A noble method for molten carbonate fuel cells electrolyte manufacturing

Abstract

An economic process for manufacturing of molten carbonate fuel cells was developed. This process consisted of fabricating the matrix by simply cutting it from a highly porous part with the geometry like an insulator brick, brush painting of the cathode layer followed by sintering and deposition of anode layer through thermal spray process. In order to manage the electrolyte content in the matrix and electrodes, coating of outer surfaces of the produced matrix with alumina slurry provided the required pores with small size at the interfaces with the electrodes. The polarization curves of the cells with alumina slurry coating and without it were not significantly different. The produced layer with small pores at the matrix outer surfaces caused the vaporization of the molten carbonate salt electrolyte to be reduced from 22.9% to 14.4% of initially infiltrated in salt weight content within 100 h of heat treating at 650°C. This is at the same time to have the benefit of larger supply of electrolyte due to the application of highly porous matrix.

Influence of Non-Conducting Zirconia on the Electrochemical Performance of Nickel Oxide in Alkaline Media at Room Temperature

“…However, in electrochemical systems, insulators typically are used as separators in battery applications or as electrodes/ electrolytes in high temperature fuel cells. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Researchers have also explored other applications, such as composite solid electrodes for organic electrochemical systems, selective doping of pyrochlores for solid oxide fuel cells, chemical and biochemical sensors on various wafers, and relays or separators for molecular level information transfer devices. [7][8][9][10] The majority of these systems either employ nonconductors as substrates and/or inhibitors of direct electron transport, or as conductors only at elevated temperatures.…”