title: Promotion of water-mediated carbon removal by nanostructured barium oxide/nickel interfaces in solid oxide fuel cells.
abstract: The existing Ni-yttria-stabilized zirconia anodes in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) perform poorly in carbon-containing fuels because of coking and deactivation at desired operating temperatures. Here we report a new anode with nanostructured barium oxide/nickel (BaO/Ni) interfaces for low-cost SOFCs, demonstrating high power density and stability in C(3)H(8), CO and gasified carbon fuels at 750°C. Synchrotron-based X-ray analyses and microscopy reveal that nanosized BaO islands grow on the Ni surface, creating numerous nanostructured BaO/Ni interfaces that readily adsorb water and facilitate water-mediated carbon removal reactions. Density functional theory calculations predict that the dissociated OH from H(2)O on BaO reacts with C on Ni near the BaO/Ni interface to produce CO and H species, which are then electrochemically oxidized at the triple-phase boundaries of the anode. This anode offers potential for ushering in a new generation of SOFCs for efficient, low-emission conversion of readily available fuels to electricity.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, USA.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: YongMan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Wentao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blinn
authors.forename: Mingfei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jianming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Trevor A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Tyson
authors.forename: Meilin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D017609:Barium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004566:Electrodes; D007700:Kinetics; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D049329:Nanostructures; D009532:Nickel / Q000737:chemistry*; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D011407:Propane; D017356:Synchrotrons; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D056928:X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D017609:Barium Compounds; D010087:Oxides; D014867:Water; D002244:Carbon; C077606:barium oxide; D009532:Nickel; D011407:Propane