High‐Performance and Durable Fuel Cells using Co/Sr‐Free Fluorite‐Based Mixed Conducting (Pr,Ce)O2‐δ Cathode
Abstract
A major challenge to overcome in demonstrating solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) to be suitable as efficient and environmentally friendly energy conversion devices capable of addressing pressing clean energy and environmental needs is to surmount chemical and thermo‐mechanical instabilities in their operational phase. To date, perovskite‐based mixed conducting cathodes, which include inherent Co and Sr elements for enhanced reactivity and conductivity, have been intensively studied. These Co/Sr‐based oxides, however, exhibit severe thermochemical expansion and suffer from Sr surface segregation, ultimately degrading the electrode performance. Here, high‐performance and durable SOFCs are demonstrated by employing a Co/Sr‐free fluorite‐based mixed conducting (Pr,Ce)O2‐δ (PCO) cathode eminently compatible with fluorite‐based solid electrolytes. The nanocolumnar PCO electrode developed in this study provides not only a remarkable low level of electrode resistance (e.g., ≈0.05 Ω cm2 at 600 °C) but also exceptional long‐term stability (e.g., a degradation rate 15 times slower compared to the state‐of‐the‐art La0.6Sr0.4CoO3‐δ perovskite). The competitive peak power densities of an anode‐supported single cell with the PCO cathode are also successively achieved, recording a value of 0.92 W cm−2 at 600 °C. These findings herald the development of new Co/Sr‐free electrodes for SOFCs at intermediate temperatures.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Sep 08, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.1002/aenm.202202101
Entities
People
- Dong Hwan Kim
- Han Gil Seo
- Harry L Tuller
- Jinwook Kim
- Ji‐won Son
- Jongsu Seo
- Seung Jin Jeong
- WooChul Jung
Organizations
- KAIST
- Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning
- Korea Institute of Science and Technology
- Korea University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- National Energy Technology Laboratory
- National Research Foundation of Korea
- Office of Fossil Energy
- United States Department of Energy