Method of Preparing a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

A solid oxide fuel cell having a multichannel electrode architecture and method for preparing the same, the method including forming a first carbon laden composition, including a first thermoplastic binder, into a rod, applying a first zirconia laden composition, including a second thermoplastic binder, onto the rod to form a composite feed rod, extruding the composite feed rod to form a controlled geometry filament, bundling the extruded composite feed rod to form a multicellular feed rod, extruding the multicellular feed rod to form a multicellular rod, cutting the multicellular rod into multicellular discs, applying a zirconia laden material to one surface of a multicellular discs to form a multicellular structure, and heating processing the multicellular structure. The fuel cell is completed by adding anode and cathode materials to the multicellular structure

Mixed proton and electron conducting double perovskite anodes for stable and efficient tubular proton ceramic electrolysers.

[EN] Hydrogen production from water electrolysis is a key enabling energy storage technology for the large-scale deployment of intermittent renewable energy sources. Proton ceramic electrolysers (PCEs) can produce dry pressurized hydrogen directly from steam, avoiding major parts of cost-driving downstream separation and compression. However, the development of PCEs has suffered from limited electrical efficiency due to electronic leakage and poor electrode kinetics. Here, we present the first fully operational BaZrO3-based tubular PCE, with 10 cm(2) active area and a hydrogen production rate above 15 Nml min(-1). The novel steam anode Ba1-xGd0.8La0.2+xCo2O6-delta exhibits mixed p-type electronic and protonic conduction and low activation energy for water splitting, enabling total polarization resistances below 1 Omega cm(2) at 600 degrees C and Faradaic efficiencies close to 100% at high steam pressures. These tubular PCEs are mechanically robust, tolerate high pressures, allow improved process integration and offer scale-up modularity.The work leading to these results has received funding from the Research Council of Norway (grant 236828) and from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) for the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative under grant agreement 621244 ('ELECTRA') and Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement 779486 ('GAMER'). This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Hydrogen Europe and Hydrogen Europe research.Vøllestad, E.; Strandbakke, R.; Tarach, M.; Catalán-Martínez, D.; Fontaine, M.; Beeaff, D.; Clark, DR.... (2019). Mixed proton and electron conducting double perovskite anodes for stable and efficient tubular proton ceramic electrolysers. Nature Materials. 18(7):752-759. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0388-2S75275918

Single-step hydrogen production from NH3, CH4, and biogas in stacked proton ceramic reactors

Proton ceramic reactors offer efficient extraction of hydrogen from ammonia, methane, and biogas by coupling endothermic reforming reactions with heat from electrochemical gas separation and compression. Preserving this efficiency in scale-up from cell to stack level poses challenges to the distribution of heat and gas flows and electric current throughout a robust functional design. Here, we demonstrate a 36-cell well-balanced reactor stack enabled by a new interconnect that achieves complete conversion of methane with more than 99% recovery to pressurized hydrogen, leaving a concentrated stream of carbon dioxide. Comparable cell performance was also achieved with ammonia, and the operation was confirmed at pressures exceeding 140 bars. The stacking of proton ceramic reactors into practical thermo-electrochemical devices demonstrates their potential in efficient hydrogen production.This work was supported by Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy through the Gassnova project CLIMIT grant 618191 in partnership with Engie SA, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Saudi Aramco, Shell, and TotalEnergies and the Research Council of Norway NANO2021 project DynaPro grant 296548

Fabrication of electrode support structure for planar solid oxide fuel cells

Research in the field of solid oxide fuel cells in recent years has primarily focused on the improvement of the electrochemical performance of the cell, especially reduction of cathodic overpotential. The mechanical performance of SOFCs has been largely neglected. Thermomechanical performance issues related to the operation of cells have only been studied in the recent past. To reduce ohmic losses, researchers fabricate thinner components with upwards of 50% porosity, thereby diminishing the strength of the entire cell. Additionally, anodic polarization losses tend to be lower than cathodic, a trait that many researchers would like to exploit by making anode supported cells. Oxidation and reduction of the anode material leads to degradation in SOFC performance during cyclic operation. Anode supported cells must continue to flow fuel gas during cool-down to prevent re-oxidation of nickel, which is the common catalyst in these electrodes. The bulk of the research presented here focuses on increasing the strength and mechanical integrity of the solid oxide fuel cell by providing an internal structural framework of zirconia within the electrode. The honeycomb structure used provides mechanical support, allowing for a thinner electrode. In addition to increasing the mechanical strength, the zirconia substructure mitigates expansion mismatch issues between the electrolyte and electrodes in both anode- and cathode-supported cells. The concept may also provide a solution to catastrophic mechanical failure of anode materials during cell cycling of anode-supported SOFCs --Abstract, page v

Fabrication of multilayer ceramic capacitors via thermoplastic coextrusion

Current methods for the manufacturing of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) typically involve tape casting technologies. As the requirement for dielectric layer thickness in multilayer capacitors becomes more stringent, the ability to fabricate devices with micron sized layers becomes correspondingly more difficult via tape casting. A strong interest remains in the industry for the development of a novel, flexible technique for the fabrication of dielectric layers below 5 μm. The result would be MLCCs having greater capacitance and volumetric efficiency in a smaller package, combined with the ability to be mass-produced in any dielectric/electrode composition. Manufacturing of miniaturized MLCCs through a more reliable process would have a significant impact. To address these issues, the overall objective of the program has been to develop multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) using Microfabrication by Coextrusion Melt Spinning (MCMS) for controlling the thickness and location of the dielectric and metal electrode layers. MCMS utilizes high shear blending of ceramic powders, as the dielectric layers, and metal powders as the electrode, with a thermoplastic polymer. The program has focused on the processing of doped barium titanate for the dielectric material along with nickel for the metal electrode, with the ultimate goal of fabricating multilayer capacitors of various capacitance values --Abstract, page iv

Rheological Behavior of Coextruded Multilayer Architectures

Utilizing a thermoplastic extrusion process, a multilayered architecture was fabricated. Thermoplastic blends of 55 vol% X7R dielectric and 50 vol% nickel powder were prepared by high shear mixing. Sheets pressed from this material were cut, stacked, and laminated to produce multilayered blocks. The blocks were extruded through a slotted spinneret to reduce layer thickness. The relation between viscosity and shear rate is relatively well understood for two- or three-layered polymer coextrusion. This behavior has not been studied for heavily loaded multi-component systems, such as might be used for MLCCs and other multilayered devices. A correlation was observed between the flow behavior during extrusion and that observed during mixing. Results show how control of the rheological behavior of highly loaded systems can control extrusion defects

Electrode Support Structures for Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

The present work has focused on increasing the strength of planar solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) by providing an internal structural framework of zirconia embedded within an electrode. A honeycomb of zirconia is fabricated by an extrusion technique. This structure is laminated to the electrolyte prior to sintering such that after densification the open surface can be infiltrated with electrode material. The honeycomb provides improved mechanical support, allowing for a thinner electrode. In addition to increasing the mechanical strength, the zirconia substructure mitigates expansion mismatch issues between the electrolyte and electrodes in both anode- and cathodesupported cells. The invention may also provide a solution to spalling of anode materials during cell cycling of anode-supported SOFCs

Mixed proton and electron conducting double perovskite anodes for stable and efficient tubular proton ceramic electrolysers

Hydrogen production from water electrolysis is a key enabling energy storage technology for the large-scale deployment of intermittent renewable energy sources. Proton ceramic electrolysers (PCEs) can produce dry pressurized hydrogen directly from steam, avoiding major parts of cost-driving downstream separation and compression. However, the development of PCEs has suffered from limited electrical efficiency due to electronic leakage and poor electrode kinetics. Here, we present the first fully operational BaZrO3-based tubular PCE, with 10 cm2 active area and a hydrogen production rate above 15 Nml min−1. The novel steam anode Ba1−xGd0.8La0.2+xCo2O6−δ exhibits mixed p-type electronic and protonic conduction and low activation energy for water splitting, enabling total polarization resistances below 1 Ω cm2 at 600 °C and Faradaic efficiencies close to 100% at high steam pressures. These tubular PCEs are mechanically robust, tolerate high pressures, allow improved process integration and offer scale-up modularity

Single-step hydrogen production from NH3, CH4, and biogas in stacked proton ceramic reactors (Supplementary data)

This link provide information about: 1. Single cell data 2. High-current data 3. Geometry file for modelling 4. Figure 1C data 5. SEU dataClark, D.; Malerød-Fjeld, H.; Budd, M.; Yuste-Tirados, I.; Beeaff, D.; Aamodt, S.; Nguyen, K.... (2022). Single-step hydrogen production from NH3, CH4, and biogas in stacked proton ceramic reactors (Supplementary data). http://hdl.handle.net/10251/18191