Improved controllability of wet infiltration technique for fabrication of solid oxide fuel cell anodes

Abstract

Ni/yttria-stabilized zirconia anodes of solid oxide fuel cells are fabricated by a wet infiltration technique and the ability of the infiltration technique to control the anode microstructure is quantitatively demonstrated by a detailed three-dimensional microstructural analysis. The microstructural analysis reveals favorable aspects of the infiltrated anodes, such as larger triple-phase boundary density and sufficiently large pore size, and they are mostly unachievable by the conventional powder-mixing and sintering approaches. The improved controllability of the infiltration technique is expected to be useful to tailor porous microstructures to meet the multiple requirements for transport and electrochemical reactions within the anodes.

Infiltration of nickel and copper catalysts into a GDC backbone assisted by supercritical CO2 for efficient SOFC anodes

“…23,[30][31][32][33] Indeed, when inltrating an electronic conductor into a porous ionic conductor, the hydrogen oxidation reaction is delocalized over the whole surface of the electrode, thus increasing the TPB site number. 32,[34][35][36][37][38] There is a real interest in thinking about innovative inltration methods such as those assisted by supercritical carbon dioxide.…”

Improvement in the Electrochemical Performance of Anode‐supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells by Meso‐ and Nanoscale Structural Modifications

“…Another approach to increasing the density of reaction sites, particularly triple-phase boundaries (TPBs), is the introduction of metal or ceramic nanoparticles into an as-prepared porous structure by wet infiltration [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Typically, the wet infiltration technique entails the introduction and thermal decomposition of a metal or ceramic precursor solution in the porous structure.…”

Towards the digitalisation of porous energy materials: evolution of digital approaches for microstructural design

“…There are several typical imaging techniques that have been widely used to reconstruct digital 2D and 3D microstructures of porous energy materials at high resolution, i.e. SEM [48][49][50][51] and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for 2D imaging, [52][53][54] while focused ion beamscanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), [55][56][57][58][59][60] X-ray computerised tomography (CT), [61][62][63][64][65][66] and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) microscopy are used for 2D and 3D imaging. [67][68][69] It is noted that neutron imaging has been popular in 2D imaging, however, it is mainly employed to probe fluid dynamics in fuel cells, material phases and magnetic structures or phase transitions.…”