Insights by Advanced Synchrotron-Based Methods at the Solid/Gas Interface of Electrode Materials for Solid Oxide Cells

Catalina E. Jimenez^a, Mauricio D. Arce^b, Rosario Suarez Anzorena^a^,^c, Mariano Santaya^b, Lucia M. Toscani^d, Emilia A. Carbonio^a^,^e, Raul Garcia Diez^a, Marianne van der Merwe^a^,^g, R. Enggar Wibowo^a^,^g, Mauro Melone^b, Nadia Gamba^b, Virginia Pérez Dieste^f, Ignacio J. Villar García^f, Daniel Többens^a, Shah Zareen^a, Lucas Bodenstein Dresler^g, Andrés López García^h, Wilson Quevedo Garzón^a, Dirk Wallacher^a, Nico Grimm^a, Regan G. Wilks^a, Axel Knop-Gericke^e^,ⁱ, Susana A. Larrondo^c^,^j, Horacio E. Troiani^b, Liliana V. Mogni^b, Marcus Bär^k^,^g^,^a

^aHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, 12489 Berlin, Germany

^bCAB-CNEA-CONICET, Centro Atómico Bariloche, S. C. de Bariloche, Rio Negro, 8400, Argentina

^cUnidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa (UNIDEF-CONICET-MINDEF), 1603 Buenos Aires, Argentina

^dInstituto de Tecnologías Emergentes y Ciencias Aplicadas (ITECA-UNSAM-CONICET), 1650 Buenos Aires, Argentina

^eFritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, 14195 Berlin, Germany

^fALBA Light Source, 08290 Barcelona, Spain

^gFriedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany

^hInstituto de Tecnología Química (ITQ-UPV-CSIC), 46022 Valencia, Spain

ⁱMax Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (MPI-CEC), 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany

^jEscuela de Hábitat y Sostenibilidad, UNSAM, 1650 Buenos Aires, Argentina

^kHelmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN), 12489 Berlin, Germany

Proceedings of 24th International Conference on Solid State Ionics (SSI24)

Advanced characterisation techniques: fundamental and devices

London, United Kingdom, 2024 July 14th - 19th

Organizers: John Kilner and Stephen Skinner

Invited Speaker, Catalina E. Jimenez, presentation 458
Publication date: 10th April 2024

The performance of solid oxide cells (SOCs) is highly influenced by the electrocatalytic activity of the working electrode material at the solid/gas interface. New generations of working electrode materials are usually highly functionalized oxides and cermets of complex stoichiometries, designed to perform as mixed ionic/electronic conductors for efficient operation as anode or cathode at intermediate temperatures (500 – 700 °C)^[1]. Examples of these materials include doped Sr(Ti,Fe)O₃ perovskites and co-doped CeO₂ with alloyed with 3d metals. Both undergo complex transformations, specifically surface modifications such as nanoparticle ex-solution and alloying upon reduction to boost electrocatalytic activity ^[2].

Here we present how to gain insights into the role of each element while by using highly brilliant synchrotron light for element specific techniques such as time-temperature resolved near ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron and absorption spectroscopies (NAP-XPS/XAS) to probe the (near) surface chemistry, oxidation states and elemental segregation at or near the solid/gas interface. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction provides a complementary structural perspective. In a next step we present device-driven optimization using model cells to apply polarization and other electrochemical techniques such as voltammetry, chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy along with the synchrotron-based techniques. Polarization proved to be an important variable capable of completely modifying the surface chemistry of the working electrode, offering opportunities for tuning the surface chemistry or regenerating the working electrode material by reversing exsolution, remove carbon deposits or investigate SOCs in fuel or electrolysis (SOFC/SOEC) operation modes.

We include three study cases on yttria-stabilized zirconia electrolyte supported model cells: The first uses a Ni-doped Sr(Ti,Fe)O₃ perovskites as working electrode for bimetallic Ni-Fe exsolution and reversible SOFC/SOEC operation in H₂/O₂gases ^[3]. The second uses a Ni-Co co-doped Sr(Ti,Fe)O₃ electrode for trimetallic exsolution of Ni-Co-Fe nanoparticles and SOFC operation with the C1 fuel CH₄ ^[4]. The third case is a cermet, co-doped CeO₂ with a Ni-Fe alloy, for CO₂/CO/H₂ co-electrolysis in SOEC mode ^[5,6].

References:

[1] A perspective on low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells”, Gao Z., Mogni L.V., Miller E.C, Railsback J.G. and Barnett S.A., Energy Environ. Sci., 2016,9, 1602-1644.

[2] Ni-Substituted Sr(Ti,Fe)O3 SOFC Anodes: Achieving High Performance via Metal Alloy Nanoparticle Exsolution, Zhu T., Troiani H.E., Mogni L.V., Han M., Barnett S.A., Joule, 2018, 2, 478–496.

[3] Tracking the nanoparticle exsolution/reoxidation processes of Ni-doped SrTi0.3Fe0.7O3−δ electrodes for intermediate temperature symmetric solid oxide fuel cells, Santaya M., Jiménez C. E., Troiani H.E., Carbonio E.A., Arce M.D., Toscani L.M., Garcia-Diez R., Wilks R.G., Knop-Gericke A., Bär M. and Mogni L.V., J. Mater. Chem. A, 2022, 10, 15554-15568.

[4] Exsolution versus particle segregation on (Ni,Co)-doped and undoped SrTi0.3Fe0.7O3-δ perovskites: Differences and influence of the reduction path on the final system nanostructure, Santaya M., Jiménez C. E., Arce M.D., Carbonio E.A., Toscani L.M., Garcia-Diez R., Knop-Gericke A., Mogni L.V., Bär M. and Troiani H.E, Int. J. of Hydrogen Energy, 2023, 48, 38842-38853.

[5] Recent advances in solid oxide cell technology for electrolysis, Hauch A., Küngas R., Blennow P., Hansen A.B. Hansen J.B., Mathiesen V.B., Mogensen M.B., Science, 2020, 370, eaba6118, 1-8.

[6] CeO2-ZrO2-Sm2O3 anodes for intermediate temperature-solid oxide fuel cells, Suarez Anzorena R., Toscani L.M. and Larrondo S.A., Electrochimica Acta, 2023, 470, 143289.

nanoGe is a prestigious brand of successful science conferences that are developed along the year in different areas of the world since 2009. Our worldwide conferences cover cutting-edge materials topics like perovskite solar cells, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, solar fuel conversion, surface science, catalysis and two-dimensional materials, among many others.

MATSUS

Previously nanoGe Spring Meeting (NSM) and nanoGe Fall Meeting (NFM), MATSUS is a multiple symposia conference focused on a broad set of topics of advanced materials preparation, their fundamental properties, and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy, photovoltaics, lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis, charge carriers dynamics, microscopy and spectroscopy semiconductors fundamentals, etc.

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.

Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics

The main topics of the Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP) are discussed every year in Asia-Pacific for gathering the recent advances in the fields of material preparation, modeling and fabrication of perovskite and hybrid and organic materials. Photovoltaic devices are analyzed from fundamental physics and materials properties to a broad set of applications. The conference also covers the developments of perovskite optoelectronics, including light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.

International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics

The International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO) is the best place to hear the latest developments in perovskite solar cells as well as on recent advances in the fields of perovskite light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.