Core-Shell Heterostructures as Functional Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Electrodes

Technical Report · Mon Jun 27 04:00:00 EDT 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1872369· OSTI ID:1872369

Gopalan, Srikanth ^[1]; Levitas, Ben ^[2]

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1. Boston Univ., MA (United States); Boston University
2. Boston Univ., MA (United States)

The principal objective of this project was to synthesize core-shell heterostructures for solid oxide fuel cell cathodes using a molten salt solvent. In doing so, the main goals were split into a) to elucidate and understand the influence of molten salt chemistries to expeditiously synthesize perovskite type oxides for solid oxide fuel cells, b) provide a chemical framework for future molten salt syntheses of energy relevant ceramic materials, c) demonstrate and investigate the required parameters for the optimal core-shell synthesis and yield of La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.2Fe_0.8O₃ (LSCF) – La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃ (shell), and d) demonstrate improved cathode performance of core-shell LSCF-LSM compared to an LSCF cathode on symmetric cells. The results clearly show that a) the influence of the molten salt cation outweighs the anion in regards to product stoichiometry, b) molten salts should be tailored to balance cationic and anionic acidity for high product yield, c) high yield of core-shell nanoparticles can be achieved by optimal mass ratio between core to shell, dwell time in the salt, size ratio between core to shell, and mass ratio between overall powder to salt, and d) the core-shell LSCF-LSM cathodes have lower polarization resistances than LSCF at higher temperatures. More work is required to optimize core-shell cathode performance at lower temperatures. However, this work thus provided justification for using the molten salt synthesis for SOFC cathodes and provided insights into future material modifications for improved performance.

• Research Organization: Boston Univ., MA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
• Contributing Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• DOE Contract Number: FE0031205
• OSTI ID: 1872369
• Report Number(s): DOE-BU-FE0031205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
42 ENGINEERING
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
Core-Shell Nanoparticles
Electrocatalysis
Fuel Cells
Molten Salt Synthesis