Electrochemical Approach for Analyzing Electrolyte Transport Properties and Their Effect on Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cell Performance

Nikolay Danilov; Julia Lyagaeva; Gennady Vdovin; Dmitry Medvedev; Anatoly Demin; Panagiotis Tsiakaras

doi:10.1021/acsami.7b07472

Electrochemical Approach for Analyzing Electrolyte Transport Properties and Their Effect on Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cell Performance

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2017 Aug 16;9(32):26874-26884. doi: 10.1021/acsami.7b07472. Epub 2017 Aug 1.

Authors

Nikolay Danilov^{1

2}, Julia Lyagaeva^{1

2}, Gennady Vdovin¹, Dmitry Medvedev^{1

2}, Anatoly Demin^{1

2}, Panagiotis Tsiakaras^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Electrochemical Devices Based on Solid Oxide Proton Electrolytes, Institute of High Temperature Electrochemistry , 620137 Yekaterinburg, Russia.
² Ural Federal University , 620002 Yekaterinburg, Russia.
³ Laboratory of Alternative Energy Conversion Systems, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Thessaly , Pedion Areos, 383 34 Volos, Greece.

PMID: 28763200
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b07472

Abstract

The design and development of highly conductive materials with wide electrolytic domain boundaries are among the most promising means of enabling solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) to demonstrate outstanding performance across low- and intermediate-temperature ranges. While reducing the thickness of the electrolyte is an extensively studied means for diminishing the total resistance of SOFCs, approaches involving an improvement in the transport behavior of the electrolyte membranes have been less-investigated. In the present work, a strategy for analyzing the electrolyte properties and their effect on SOFC output characteristics is proposed. To this purpose, a SOFC based on a recently developed BaCe_0.5Zr_0.3Dy_0.2O_3-δ proton-conducting ceramic material was fabricated and tested. The basis of the strategy consists of the use of traditional SOFC testing techniques combined with the current interruption method and electromotive force measurements with a modified polarization-correction assessment. This allows one to determine simultaneously such important parameters as maximal power density; ohmic and polarization resistances; average ion transport numbers; and total, ionic, and electronic film conductivities and their activation energies. The proposed experimental procedure is expected to expand both fundamental and applied basics that could be further adopted to improve the technology of electrochemical devices based on proton-conducting electrolytes.

Keywords: current interruption method; electromotive force measurements; ohmic and polarization resistances; protonic conductors; solid oxide fuel cells.