Nickel–Zirconia Anode Degradation and Triple Phase Boundary Quantification from Microstructural Analysis

Faes, Antonin; Hessler-Wyser, Aïcha; Presvytes, D.; Vayenas, C.G.; herle, Jan Van

doi:10.1002/fuce.200800147

Cited by 200 publications

(167 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Experiments have shown that the performance of SOFCs suffers from losses in three-phase boundary density and contiguity, arising from coarsening processes of the metallic-phase particles within the anode network [5,6,8]. Based on extensive simulations of such coarsening processes using a continuum diffuse-interface approach, we have shown that the wettability between the metallic network and electrolyte backbone has a significant effect on the ability of the system to retain active TPB and phase contiguity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, RCP systems are generated such that the average volume fraction of the metal, ceramic and pore phases correspond to 22:55 AE 0:01%; 54:11 AE 0:02% and 23:33 AE 0:02%, respectively, similar to experimentally characterized SOFC cermet anodes [5,6]. The resulting virtual anode systems are digitized and mapped onto a N x Â N y Â N z uniform grid, where the c and / phase fields are assigned to the corresponding metal and ceramic particles.…”

Section: Microstructural Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A specific degradation mechanism, which has been observed as a major contributor to performance loss, is the agglomeration and coarsening of Ni particles in the anode [5][6][7]. Due to the high operating temperatures of SOFCs (800-1000°C) required for sufficient ion diffusion through the YSZ electrolyte, the Ni phase coarsens, which reduces both the number of available reaction sites (triple-phase boundary lines) and contiguous paths for electron transport [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phase wettability and microstructural evolution in solid oxide fuel cell anode materials

et al. 2014

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Recent experimental and theoretical findings suggest that high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) often suffer from performance degradation due to coarsening of the metallic-phase particles within the anode. In this study, we explore the feasibility of improving the microstructural stability of SOFC anode materials by tuning the contact angle between the metallic phase and electrolyte particles. To this end, a continuum diffuse-interface model is employed to capture the coarsening behavior of the metallic phase and simulate a range of equilibrium contact angles. The evolution of performance-critical, microstructural features is presented for varying degrees of phase wettability. It is found that both the density of electrochemically active triple-phase regions and contiguity of the electron-conducting phase display undesirable minima near the contact angle of conventional SOFC materials. Our results suggest that tailoring the interfacial properties of the constituent phases could lead to a significant increase in the performance and lifetime of SOFCs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Microstructural Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phase wettability and microstructural evolution in solid oxide fuel cell anode materials

et al. 2014

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“…The In Situ Nanoprobe beamline (ISN beamline) is aimed at the in situ and operando study of materials and materials systems, including advanced energy harvesting, [8][9][10][11][12] energy conversion [13][14][15] and energy storage systems, [16][17][18] and nanoelectronics. [19][20][21][22][23] Examples of such systems include organic and inorganic solar cells, fuel cell components, and concepts for advanced batteries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Next-Generation Hard X-Ray Nanoprobe Beamline for In Situ Studies of Energy Materials and Devices

Mäser

Lai

Buonassisi

et al. 2013

Metall Mater Trans A

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The Advanced Photon Source is developing a suite of new X-ray beamlines to study materials and devices across many length scales and under real conditions. One of the flagship beamlines of the APS upgrade is the In Situ Nanoprobe (ISN) beamline, which will provide in situ and operando characterization of advanced energy materials and devices under varying temperatures, gas ambients, and applied fields, at previously unavailable spatial resolution and throughput. Examples of materials systems include inorganic and organic photovoltaic systems, advanced battery systems, fuel cell components, nanoelectronic devices, advanced building materials and other scientifically and technologically relevant systems. To characterize these systems at very high spatial resolution and trace sensitivity, the ISN will use both nanofocusing mirrors and diffractive optics to achieve spots sizes as small as 20 nm. Nanofocusing mirrors in Kirkpatrick-Baez geometry will provide several orders of magnitude increase in photon flux at a spatial resolution of 50 nm. Diffractive optics such as zone plates and/or multilayer Laue lenses will provide a highest spatial resolution of 20 nm. Coherent diffraction methods will be used to study even small specimen features with sub-10 nm relevant length scale. A high-throughput data acquisition system will be employed to significantly increase operations efficiency and usability of the instrument. The ISN will provide full spectroscopy capabilities to study the chemical state of most materials in the periodic table, and enable X-ray fluorescence tomography. In situ electrical characterization will enable operando studies of energy and electronicdevices such as photovoltaic systems and batteries. We describe the optical concept for the ISN beamline, the technical design, and the approach for enabling a broad variety of in situ studies. We furthermore discuss the application of hard X-ray microscopy to study defects in multi-crystalline solar cells, one of the lines of inquiries for which the ISN is being developed.

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“…Nelson et al 26 reported TPB contiguity is affected by Ni particle coarsening. Faes et al 27 investigated the * Electrochemical Society Member. z E-mail: linliu@ku.edu interplay between particle size and TPB by measuring Ni-YSZ particle size and the TPB area using microscopy techniques.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Meso-Scale Phase-Field Modeling of Microstructural Evolution in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Abdullah

Liu

2016

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Microstructural evolution occurs in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) during operation, which cause severe electrochemical performance degradation as well as structural failure such as crack formation. Nickel (Ni) particle coarsening is believed to cause microstructural evolution in the Ni-based anode of SOFCs. Furthermore, the accumulation of expanded pores during the microstructural evolution is responsible for crack formation. Based on the diffuse-interface theory and the phase-field method, integrating both Cahn-Hilliard equation and Ginzburg-Landau equation, a meso-scale phase-field model was established to investigate microstructural evolution and crack formation in the Ni / Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) anode of SOFCs. Then, the model was applied to explore the coupling effects of microstructural evolution on SOFCs performance degradation. Simulation results show that particle size, porosity, and particle size ratio of Ni-YSZ are most influential parameters in microstructural evolution. It was found that the triple phase boundaries (TPBs) area was decreased by 24% and power density was decreased by 11.03% after 1000 hours of operation. In addition, the power density was decreased by 27%. This work is expected to provide us a comprehensive understanding of SOFCs' microstructural evolution as well as a tool for SOFC's performance degradation analysis. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) could be one possible solution to the depleting energy resources of the modern world due to its fuel flexibility, low carbon emissions, and high efficiency. With up to 60% energy efficiency and a life expectancy of 40,000 hours, the SOFC has emerged as an ideal candidate to meet the energy challenges of the modern world.1-3 However, the commercialization of SOFC is hindered due to its high operating temperature, manufacturing cost, and structural instability.4-6 Structural evolution of SOFC often leads to the structural failure and shortening of SOFC lifetime. 7,8 Moreover, structural evolution results in compromising SOFCs' electrochemical performance, mostly in the electrodes.A SOFC consists of both electrodes (i.e., anode and cathode) and a ceramic electrolyte. The anode is consisted of ion conducting phase and electron conducting phase to facilitate the fuel oxidation reaction. 9The cathode reduces the oxygen into oxygen ion, which is then diffused to anode through the ceramic electrolyte, such as yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ).10 Electrochemical reaction of SOFC mainly occurs in the triple phase boundary (TPB) area, 11 where the pore phase, the ion conducting phase, and electron conducting phase join to convert chemical energy of fuel gases to electrical energy. 1,8,12,13 TPB area is the key microstructural property controlling the electrochemical activities of SOFC.14 It is desired to have a stable microstructure with optimized TPB area. 15,16 However, recent studies reveal that TPB area is often diminished due to microstructure evolution. 10,[17][18][19][20] The microstructure evolution is controlled by the Ni particle c...

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Nickel–Zirconia Anode Degradation and Triple Phase Boundary Quantification from Microstructural Analysis

Cited by 200 publications

References 42 publications

Phase wettability and microstructural evolution in solid oxide fuel cell anode materials

Phase wettability and microstructural evolution in solid oxide fuel cell anode materials

A Next-Generation Hard X-Ray Nanoprobe Beamline for In Situ Studies of Energy Materials and Devices

Meso-Scale Phase-Field Modeling of Microstructural Evolution in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

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