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

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.

doi:10.3390/cryst10100941

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

Journal Article · Fri Oct 16 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Crystals

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst10100941· OSTI ID:1769863

^[1]; ^[2]; Tan, Chun ^[1]; ^[3]; ^[4]; Jacques, Simon M. ^[5]; Beale, Andrew M. ^[6]; Di Michiel, Marco ^[7]; ^[1]; ^[1]

Univ. College London (United Kingdom). The Electrochemical Innovation Lab.; The Faraday Inst., Didcot (United Kingdom)
Finden Ltd., Abingdon (United Kingdom); Univ. College London (United Kingdom)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Univ. College London (United Kingdom). The Electrochemical Innovation Lab.
Finden Ltd., Abingdon (United Kingdom)
Finden Ltd., Abingdon (United Kingdom); Univ. College London (United Kingdom); Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Oxford (United Kingdom). Rutherford Appleton Lab. (RAL)
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble (France)

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.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

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

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office; Faraday Institution; Royal Academy for Engineering

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1769863

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--5700-77831; MainId:30746; UUID:00d90da8-10bf-41d8-a957-48ba0060c156; MainAdminID:19841

Journal Information:: Crystals, Journal Name: Crystals Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 10; ISSN 2073-4352

Publisher:: MDPICopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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25 ENERGY STORAGE
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computed tomography
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yttria
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The Detection of Monoclinic Zirconia and Non-Uniform 3D Crystallographic Strain in a Re-Oxidized Ni-YSZ Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode

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