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Title: The Detection of Monoclinic Zirconia and Non-Uniform 3D Crystallographic Strain in a Re-Oxidized Ni-YSZ Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode

Abstract

The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) anode is often composed of nickel (Ni) and yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). The yttria is added in small quantities (e.g., 8 mol %) to maintain the crystallographic structure throughout the operating temperatures (e.g., room-temperature to >800 °C). The YSZ skeleton provides a constraining structural support that inhibits degradation mechanisms such as Ni agglomeration and thermal expansion miss-match between the anode and electrolyte layers. Within this structure, the Ni is deposited in the oxide form and then reduced during start-up; however, exposure to oxygen (e.g., during gasket failure) readily re-oxidizes the Ni back to NiO, impeding electrochemical performance and introducing complex structural stresses. In this work, we correlate lab-based X-ray computed tomography using zone plate focusing optics, with X-ray synchrotron diffraction computed tomography to explore the crystal structure of a partially re-oxidized Ni/NiO-YSZ electrode. These state-of-the-art techniques expose several novel findings: non-isotropic YSZ lattice distributions; the presence of monoclinic zirconia around the oxidation boundary; and metallic strain complications in the presence of variable yttria content. This work provides evidence that the reduction–oxidation processes may destabilize the YSZ structure, producing monoclinic zirconia and microscopic YSZ strain, which has implications upon the electrode’s mechanical integrity and thus lifetimemore » of the SOFC.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5];  [6];  [7]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Univ. College London (United Kingdom). The Electrochemical Innovation Lab.; The Faraday Inst., Didcot (United Kingdom)
  2. Finden Ltd., Abingdon (United Kingdom); Univ. College London (United Kingdom)
  3. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  4. Univ. College London (United Kingdom). The Electrochemical Innovation Lab.
  5. Finden Ltd., Abingdon (United Kingdom)
  6. Finden Ltd., Abingdon (United Kingdom); Univ. College London (United Kingdom); Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Oxford (United Kingdom). Rutherford Appleton Lab. (RAL)
  7. European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble (France)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office; Faraday Institution; Royal Academy for Engineering
OSTI Identifier:
1769863
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5700-77831
Journal ID: ISSN 2073-4352; MainId:30746;UUID:00d90da8-10bf-41d8-a957-48ba0060c156;MainAdminID:19841
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308; EP/S003053/1; FIRG001; CiET1718\59
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Crystals
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 10; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 2073-4352
Publisher:
MDPI
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
25 ENERGY STORAGE; X-ray; SOFC; YSZ; diffraction; raman; computed tomography; fuel cell; anode; microstructure; yttria; zirconia

Citation Formats

Heenan, Thomas M., Vamvakeros, Antonis, Tan, Chun, Finegan, Donal P., Daemi, Sohrab R., Jacques, Simon M., Beale, Andrew M., Di Michiel, Marco, Brett, Dan L., and Shearing, Paul R. The Detection of Monoclinic Zirconia and Non-Uniform 3D Crystallographic Strain in a Re-Oxidized Ni-YSZ Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.3390/cryst10100941.
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Heenan, Thomas M., Vamvakeros, Antonis, Tan, Chun, Finegan, Donal P., Daemi, Sohrab R., Jacques, Simon M., Beale, Andrew M., Di Michiel, Marco, Brett, Dan L., & Shearing, Paul R. The Detection of Monoclinic Zirconia and Non-Uniform 3D Crystallographic Strain in a Re-Oxidized Ni-YSZ Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode. United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst10100941
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Heenan, Thomas M., Vamvakeros, Antonis, Tan, Chun, Finegan, Donal P., Daemi, Sohrab R., Jacques, Simon M., Beale, Andrew M., Di Michiel, Marco, Brett, Dan L., and Shearing, Paul R. Fri . "The Detection of Monoclinic Zirconia and Non-Uniform 3D Crystallographic Strain in a Re-Oxidized Ni-YSZ Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode". United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst10100941. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1769863.
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@article{osti_1769863,
title = {The Detection of Monoclinic Zirconia and Non-Uniform 3D Crystallographic Strain in a Re-Oxidized Ni-YSZ Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode},
author = {Heenan, Thomas M. and Vamvakeros, Antonis and Tan, Chun and Finegan, Donal P. and Daemi, Sohrab R. and Jacques, Simon M. and Beale, Andrew M. and Di Michiel, Marco and Brett, Dan L. and Shearing, Paul R.},
abstractNote = {The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) anode is often composed of nickel (Ni) and yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). The yttria is added in small quantities (e.g., 8 mol %) to maintain the crystallographic structure throughout the operating temperatures (e.g., room-temperature to >800 °C). The YSZ skeleton provides a constraining structural support that inhibits degradation mechanisms such as Ni agglomeration and thermal expansion miss-match between the anode and electrolyte layers. Within this structure, the Ni is deposited in the oxide form and then reduced during start-up; however, exposure to oxygen (e.g., during gasket failure) readily re-oxidizes the Ni back to NiO, impeding electrochemical performance and introducing complex structural stresses. In this work, we correlate lab-based X-ray computed tomography using zone plate focusing optics, with X-ray synchrotron diffraction computed tomography to explore the crystal structure of a partially re-oxidized Ni/NiO-YSZ electrode. These state-of-the-art techniques expose several novel findings: non-isotropic YSZ lattice distributions; the presence of monoclinic zirconia around the oxidation boundary; and metallic strain complications in the presence of variable yttria content. This work provides evidence that the reduction–oxidation processes may destabilize the YSZ structure, producing monoclinic zirconia and microscopic YSZ strain, which has implications upon the electrode’s mechanical integrity and thus lifetime of the SOFC.},
doi = {10.3390/cryst10100941},
journal = {Crystals},
number = 10,
volume = 10,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Oct 16 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Fri Oct 16 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst10100941
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