CO detection in H2 reducing atmosphere with mini fuel cell

International audienceA prototype of a miniaturized fuel cell has been studied in order to detect carbon monoxide in hydrogen-rich atmosphere for PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell) applications. It consists on a single PEMFC (membrane-electrode-assembly supplied by CEA/LITEN) directly fed by the hydrogen-carbon monoxide mixture while the cathode is exposed to ambient air. Experiments have been carried out on a laboratory testing bench with simulated reforming gas. Two working modes have been studied. For low CO concentrations (≤20 ppm), the amperometric mode is suitable but a regeneration in air is necessary to obtain a good reversibility of the sensor response. On the contrary, for higher CO concentrations (250-4000 ppm), a good reversible response is observed without air regenerating by using a potentiometric or quasi-potentiometric mode. Therefore, this prototype of mini fuel cell sensor seems to be convenient for monitoring reformed gases either for low temperature PEMFC which are poisoned by very low traces of CO or for high temperature PEMFC which can operate at higher CO concentrations

Detection of CO in H2-rich gases with a samarium doped ceria (SDC) sensor for fuel cell applications

International audienceAn original sensor has been studied in order to detect low CO concentration in h2-rich atmosphere for pem (protonic exchange membrane) fuel cell applications. The SCD (samarium doped ceria) sensor is a potentiometric sensor working with an electrode dissymmetry Au/Pt. The originality of this sensor is mainly working with the two electrodes in the same atmosphere without a reference cell. The Δ (emf) response, defined by the difference between the emf (electromotive force) value under carrier gas and the emf value under CO, is correlated with the CO concentration. Experiments have been carried out on a laboratory testing bench, either with a large measurement cell equipped with a hot plate and two mobile gold points as electrical contacts or in a small cell with self-heated sensors supplied with a platinum heater on the reverse side of the substrate. Responses to low CO concentrations (0-4000 ppm v/v) in H2-rich gases (5% v/v) varies between 25 and 100 mV, but saturation is observed beyond 400 ppm v/v of CO. In wet atmosphere, the sensitivity is partially reduced but the sensor response remains perfectly usable. At the moment no satisfying model can be used to explain the experimental results. Nevertheless, the performances of these SCD sensors appear sufficiently good to satisfy the fuel cell application

Laser induced densification of cerium gadolinium oxide: application to single-chamber solid oxide fuel cells

International audienceIn single-chamber solid oxide fuel cells (SC-SOFC), anode and cathode are placed in a gas chamber where they are exposed to a fuel/air mixture. Similarly to conventional dual-chamber SOFC, the anode and the cathode are separated by an electrolyte. However, as in the SC-SOFC configuration the electrolyte does not play tightness role between compartments, this one can be a porous layer. Nevertheless, it is necessary to have a diffusion barrier to prevent the transportation of hydrogen produced locally at the anode to the cathode that reduces fuel cell performances. This study aims to obtain directly a diffusion barrier through the surface densification of the electrolyte Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95 (CGO) by a laser treatment. KrF excimer laser and Yb fiber laser irradiations were used at different fluences and number of pulses to modify the density of the electrolyte coating. Microstructural characterizations confirmed the modifications on the surface of the electrolyte for appropriate experimental conditions showing either grain growth or densified but cracked surfaces. Gas permeation and electrical conductivities of the modified electrolyte were evaluated. Finally SC-SOFC performances were improved for the cells presenting grain growth at the electrolyte surface

A novel approach of a fully inkjet printed SnO₂-based gas sensor on a flexible foil

International audienceIn recent years, printed and flexible gas sensors have quickly emerged as an innovative area of great interest because of their lightness and low cost. These flexible sensors can be easily integrated into autonomous systems for many applications such as smart food packaging and premature disease detection. In this paper, a novel approach was applied to manufacture a fully inkjet-printed gas sensor on a flexible polymeric foil. Platinum heater and gold electrodes were printed on the top side of the substrate, separated by a thin insulating layer of printed polyimide. An aqueous sol-gel process was adopted to synthesize nanosized SnO2-based sol that guaranty a crystallization at 350 °C, which is entirely consistent with the polyimide foil. Then, the sol was transformed into a stable ink and inkjet printed over the gold electrodes. The printability of different inks was optimized to ensure flawless ejection of droplets, and the complex physico-chemical interactions between the inks and different interfaces were controlled to get well-defined patterns with high resolution. Finally, electrical measurements of the printed sensor were performed to characterize the response and the sensitivity to different concentrations of ethanol, ammonia and carbon monoxide gases, at working temperature of 300 °C, in dry and wet air

Modeling of the signal of a resistive soot sensor, influence of the soot nature and of the polarization voltage

International audienceResistive soot sensors capable of measuring the mass concentration of particles in an exhaust pipe have been developed in a previous work. In particular, it has been shown that these sensors have an optimal sensitivity for a certain polarization voltage depending on the nature of the particles.This work shows that this effect can be explained by an equilibrium between the creation of soot bridges between the two collecting electrodes and their destruction initiated by Joule effect due to the polarization voltage. Based on this assumption, a model is proposed to predict the load curve (response versus time) of the sensor. In addition, the high frequency sampling of the sensor response has revealed some jumps of the sensor response (electrical conductance), which are exploited through a statistical approach to obtain additional information on the nature of the collected particles

Development of a sensitive and selective mixed-potential ammonia sensor for automotive exhausts

Session: A5 Oxide Based Sensors and ActuatorsInternational audienceOne of the most effective technologies in decreasing large-scale NOx emission produced by diesel engine vehicles is Urea-SCR (selective catalytic reduction) system. In order to prevent inducing excessive ammonia to the environment, an NH3 sensor is required at the exit of this system. In this study, highly selective ammonia sensors were developed to detect ammonia emissions from automotive exhaust.The sensors were fabricated with 8-YSZ electrolyte, a platinum reference electrode and a working electrode of Au-V2O5 (mass ratio: 85:15), screen-printed on an alumina supports. A platinum resistor was printed at the backside of the support to control the sensor temperature. The measured sensor response (ΔV) is the potential difference between reference and working electrodes. Figure 1 shows the responses of two identical sensors to 100 ppm CO, NO2, NO and 20 ppm of NH3 at four different temperatures. It can be seen that the sensors respond to all gases at lower temperatures while by increasing temperature to 600 °C the selectivity to NH3 is greatly improved. The selectivity of sensors was also confirmed by testing other possible interfering gases and no responses were observed for 20ppm of H2 and 100ppm of a hydrocarbon mixture. The stability of such sensors was studied at 550 °C and 600 °C. Since sensors showed no long term stability at 600 °C (electrode degradation), but remain stable results at 550 °C, investigations were made to decrease the selective working temperature while maintaining selectivity. After testing different mass percentages of V2O5 in working electrode, we observed that by increasing this value to 50%, the working temperature of selective ammonia sensors could be decreased to 550 °C with stable responses. Further investigations will be performed in order to gain deeper insight in sensing mechanism of V2O5 based working electrodes, which governs the sensor’s performance

Influence of key parameters on the response of a resistive soot sensor

International audienceThis paper is a comprehensive study dealing with the parameters that influence the response of a resistive soot sensor which was developed for Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) failure detection in a past project. From the conductance measurement between two Pt electrodes, and a regeneration strategy, this kind of sensor can provide the weight concentration of particulate matter (PM). In this study, we have characterized and determined the key parameters such as the PM distribution size and the polarization voltage between the electrodes that could influence the sensor response. First results show that the sensor response strongly depends on the polarization voltage applied between the two electrodes

Anode supported single chamber solid oxide fuel cells operating in exhaust gases of thermal engine

International audienceThis project deals with the development and the electrochemical characterization of anode supported single chamber SOFC in a simulated environment of thermal engine exhaust gas. In the present work, a gas mixture representative of exhaust conditions is selected. It is composed of hydrocarbons (HC: propane and propene), oxygen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and water. Only oxygen content is varied leading to different gas mixtures characterized by three ratios R = HC/O2. Concerning the cell components, a cermet made of nickel and an electrolyte material, Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95 (CGO) is used as anode and two cathode materials, La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3−δ (LSCF) and Pr2NiO4+δ (PNO), are evaluated. The prepared cells are investigated in the various gas mixtures for temperatures ranging from 450 °C to 600 °C. Ni-CGO/CGO/LSCF-CGO cell has delivered a maximum power density of 15 mW cm−2 at 500 °C with R = HC/O2 = 0.21, while lower power densities are obtained for the other ratios, R = 0.44 and R = 0.67. Afterwards, LSCF and PNO cathode materials are compared and LSCF is found to deliver the highest power densities. Finally, by improving the electrolyte microstructure, some cells presenting a maximum power density of 25 mW cm−2 at 550 °C are produced. Moreover, up to 17% of initial HC are eliminated in the gas mixture

Development of Single Chamber Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SCFC)

International audienceSingle Chamber Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SCFC) have been prepared using an electrolyte as support (Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95 named GDC). Anode (Ni-GDC) and different cathodes (Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3 (SSC), Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.2Fe0.8O3 (BSCF) and La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 (LSM)) were placed on the same side of the electrolyte. All the electrodes were deposited using screen-printing technology. A gold collector was also deposited on the cathode to decrease the over-potential. The different materials and fuel cell devices were tested under propane/air mixture, after a preliminary treatment under hydrogen to reduce the as-deposited nickel oxide anode. The results show that SSC and BSCF cathodes are not stable in these conditions, leading to a very low open circuit voltage (OCV) of 150 mV. Although LSM material is not the more adequate cathode regarding its high catalytic activity towards hydrocarbon conversion, it has a better chemical stability than SSC and BSCF. Ni-GDC-LSM SCFC devices were elaborated and tested; an OCV of nearly 750 mV could be obtained with maximum power densities around 20 mW cm–2 at 620 °C, under air–propane mixture with C3H8/O2 ratio equal to 0.53

Detection of oxygen traces in nitrogen and hydrogen-rich atmosphere

International audienceTin oxide sensors are evaluated to detect traces of oxygen in the range 0-100 ppm both in nitrogen and hydrogen (4.5 vol% H2 in N2) atmospheres. In nitrogen, significant relative responses to oxygen are measured at 623 K and 723 K. However, at lower temperature, 523 K, the response strongly decreases. In the presence of hydrogen, on the contrary, interesting responses are measured at 523 K. At higher temperature, 623 K and 723 K, on one hand SnO2 sensors begin to reduce, and on the other hand, oxygen is partly consumed by reaction with hydrogen. Oxygen trace detection (5-100 ppm) is thus only possible in hydrogen atmosphere (4.5 vol% H2) at 523 K