Modeling the performance and faradaic efficiency of solid oxide electrolysis cells using doped barium zirconate perovskite electrolytes

Wrubel, Jacob A.; Gifford, Jeffrey; Ma, Zhiwen; Ding, Hanping; Ding, Dong; Zhu, Tianli

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.01.043

Title: Modeling the performance and faradaic efficiency of solid oxide electrolysis cells using doped barium zirconate perovskite electrolytes

Journal Article · Sun Jan 31 00:00:00 EST 2021 · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.01.043· OSTI ID:1768291

^[1];

^[1]; Ding, Hanping ^[2]; Ding, Dong ^[2]; Zhu, Tianli ^[3]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Raytheon Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, CT (United States)

Y-doped BaZrO₃ (BaZr₁ _xY_xO₃ _δ, or “BZY”), a proton-conducting ceramic featuring high bulk conductivity and good chemical stability, is a promising electrolyte material for solid oxide electrolysis cells. Further doping with Ce and/or Yb (creating materials “BCZY” and “BCZYYb”) can improve conductivity and sintering properties, but at significant penalty to cells’ faradaic efficiency (FE). Studies have proposed that reduction of lattice Ce can occur in the hydrogen electrode, which consumes some hydrogen produced by the hydrogen evolution reaction, leading to decreased FE. Despite studies suggesting this phenomenon, the mechanism is largely unknown. In this work, we developed a multiphysics model to study the transport of multiple defect species and the performance of BZY, BCZY, and BCZYYb, capturing the tradeoff between enhanced performance at the cost of FE for BCZY and BCZYYb electrolytes compared to BZY. We also found that increasing the water content of the anode gas supply lowers the current output of the cell but results in better FE. The model, which uses several parameters previously unavailable in the literature, was validated to experiments varying temperature, steam water content, and electrolyte material, as well as two performance metrics (performance curves and FE). Results verify and explain observed trends, informing future work on Ce-doped BZY electrolytes.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Fuel Cell Technologies Office; USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308; AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 1768291

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1809579

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5700-77623; MainId:29549; UUID:e9551aa9-b909-4c40-89a9-18129075edec; MainAdminID:19718

Journal Information:: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 46, Issue 21; ISSN 0360-3199

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Modeling the performance and faradaic efficiency of solid oxide electrolysis cells using doped barium zirconate perovskite electrolytes

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