Fabrication of a double-layered Co-Mn-O spinel coating on stainless steel via the double glow plasma alloying process and preoxidation treatment as SOFC interconnect

To improve oxidation resistance, prevent Cr evaporation and maintain appropriate electrical conductivity of AISI 430 stainless steel (430 SS) as the solid oxide fuel cells' (SOFCs) interconnect, a double-layered Co-Mn-O spinel coating is fabricated successfully on 430 SS via a simple double glow plasma alloying process (DGPA) followed by heating in the air (preoxidation treatment). The double-layered Co-Mn-O spinel coating is composed of a thick MnCo₂O₄ spinel outlayer and a thin mutual-diffused (MnCoFe)₃O₄ oxide innerlayer. The isothermal and cyclic oxidation measurements are used to investigate the oxidation resistance, and the ASR test is performed to evaluate the conductivity for the coated and uncoated specimens. The coated specimen has a lower oxidation kinetics rate constant (9.0929 × 10⁻⁴ mg² cm⁻⁴ h⁻¹) than the uncoated one (1.900 × 10⁻³ mg² cm⁻⁴ h⁻¹) and the weight gain of the coated specimen (0.84 mg cm⁻²) is less than that of bare steel (1.29 mg cm⁻²) after 750 h oxidation. Meanwhile, the coated specimen holds a lower area specific resistance (0.029 Ω cm²) compared to the uncoated one (2.28 Ω cm²) after 408 h oxidation. Furthermore, the compact Co-Mn-O spinel coating can effectively impede Cr-volatilization. Additionally, the probable mechanism of the Co-Mn alloy conversion into spinel and the electronic conduction behavior in the spinel are discussed. The effects of mutual-diffused oxide innerlayer on oxidation behavior and conductivity are investigated.     

Numerical analysis of a planar anode-supported SOFC with composite electrodes

This paper investigates a planar anode-supported solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with mixed-conducting electrodes. Direct internal methane reforming in the high-temperature cell is included. The numerical model used is three-dimensional, a single computational domain comprising the fuel and air channels and the electrodes–electrolyte assembly. The oxygen ion transport through the electrolyte is mimicked with an algorithm for Fickian diffusion built into the commercial computational package Star-CD. The equations describing transport, chemical and electrochemical processes for mass, momentum, species and energy are solved using Star-CD with in-house developed subroutines. Results for temperature, chemical species and current density distribution for co- and counter-flow configurations are shown and discussed. For co-flow, a sub-cooling effect manifests itself in the methane-rich region near the fuel entrance, while for counter-flow a super-heating effect manifests itself somewhat further downstream, where all the methane is consumed. Effects of varying air inlet conditions are also investigated.     

Study of the efficiency of composite LaNi0.6Fe0.4O3-based cathodes in intermediate-temperature anode-supported SOFCs

The paper focuses on the performance comparison of LaNi_0.6Fe_0.4O_3-δ (LNF) composite cathodes comprising Ce_0.8Sm_0.2O_1.9 (SDC) and Bi_1.5Y_0.5O₃ (YDB) electrolytes and La_0.6Sr_0.4Fe_0.8Co_0.2O_3-δ (LSFC)-SDC cathodes in anode-supported SOFCs with YSZ/GDC electrolyte films obtained by magnetron sputtering. Cathodes with LNF-SDC and LNF-YDB functional layers and the LNF-YDB-CuO oxide collector show a sufficient thermo-mechanical compatibility with the electrolyte. The performance of the anode-supported SOFC with the LNF-YDB/LNF-YDB-CuO cathode, reaches 650 and 1050 mW/cm² at 700 and 800 °C, respectively, which is significantly higher than that obtained in other works for anode-supported cells with LNF cathodes. The initial total polarization resistance of the NiO-YSZ/YSZ/GDC/LNF-YDB/LNF-YDB-CuO cell, is 0.53 Ω cm², which is lower than the initial resistance of the similar anode-supported cell with the LNF-SDC/LNF-YDB-CuO cathode (1.35 Ω cm²) and LSFC-SDC cathode with LNF-YDB-CuO (1.71 Ω cm²) and La_0.6Sr_0.4CoO₃ (1.17 Ω cm²) collectors. The most probable reason for the LNF-YDB electrode aging is the growth of Bi-containing particles. Experimental results show that LNF-based composite cathodes are competitive with cobalt-containing cathodes and can be promising for anode-supported SOFCs with decreased operating temperature, that allows extending the material choice for both functional and collector cathode layers.     

The effect of heavy tars (toluene and naphthalene) on the electrochemical performance of an anode-supported SOFC running on bio-syngas

The effect of heavy tar compounds on the performance of a Ni-YSZ anode supported solid oxide fuel cell was investigated. Both toluene and naphthalene were chosen as model compounds and tested separately with a simulated bio-syngas. Notably, the effect of naphthalene is almost negligible with pure H₂ feed to the SOFC, whereas a severe degradation is observed when using a bio-syngas with an H₂:CO = 1. The tar compound showed to have a remarkable effect on the inhibition of the WGS shift-reaction, possibly also on the CO direct electro-oxidation at the three-phase-boundary. An interaction through adsorption of naphthalene on nickel catalytic and electrocatalytic active sites is a plausible explanation for observed degradation and strong performance loss. Different sites seem to be involved for H₂ and CO electro-oxidation and also with regard to catalytic water gas shift reaction. Finally, heavy tars (C ≥ 10) must be regarded as a poison more than a fuel for SOFC applications, contrarily to lighter compounds such benzene or toluene that can directly reformed within the anode electrode. The presence of naphthalene strongly increases the risk of anode re-oxidation in a syngas stream as CO conversion to H₂ is inhibited and also CH₄ conversion is blocked.     

Improving single-chamber performance of an anode-supported SOFC by impregnating anode with active nickel catalyst

In order to improve the single-chamber performance of a traditional anode-supported single-chamber solid-oxide fuel cell with NiO–ScSZ anode and ScSZ electrolyte, the modification of the anode with a fine nickel catalyst by impregnation method was exploited. Catalytic test demonstrated the nickel catalyst had higher catalytic activity than the severe sintered nickel–cermet anode between 700 and 900 °C, especially at the lower temperature range. SEM examination demonstrated the nickel catalyst impregnation increased the roughness of the nickel grains within the anode. Furthermore, some surfaces of the ScSZ grains are also covered with very fine nickel catalyst. By operating on a methane-air mixture gas with methane to oxygen ratio of 1.3:1, the cell with its anode impregnated with the nickel catalyst showed an open circuit voltage and peak power density of 0.954 V and 119 mW cm⁻² at a furnace temperature of 750 °C, respectively, as a comparison of 0.893 V and 79 mW cm⁻² for the cell without the nickel catalyst. The improved cell performance was attributed to the higher cell temperature and increased anode catalytic activity for methane partial oxidation.     

Characterization and performance of (La,Ba)(Co,Fe)O3 cathode for solid oxide fuel cells with iron–chromium metallic interconnect

(La_0.6Ba_0.4)(Co_0.2Fe_0.8)O₃ (LBCF) is synthesized by a sol–gel method as a Cr-tolerant cathode for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (ITSOFCs). The electrochemical performance and Cr deposition process for the O₂ reduction reaction on LBCF cathodes in the presence and absence of a Fe–Cr alloy interconnect are investigated in detail, in comparison with a (La,Sr)(Co,Fe)O₃ (LSCF) electrode. Cr deposition occurs for the O₂ reduction reaction on LBCF electrodes in the presence of Fe–Cr alloy. Very different from that observed for the reaction on the LSCF cathode, Cr deposition on the LBCF electrode/gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) electrolyte system is very small and shows little poisoning effect for O₂ reduction on LBCF electrode. The results demonstrate that the LBCF electrode has a high resistance towards Cr deposition and high tolerance towards Cr poisoning.