Publication date: 10th April 2024
To address the ever-growing energy demand of modern society, promote the use of renewable energies and implement sustainable energy carriers like hydrogen, further technologies for the efficient energy conversion and storage are required. Proton Ceramic Electrochemical cells are a promising candidate to play a crucial role in those technologies. For the widespread application, certain challenges need to be overcome mainly concerning stability and efficiency of current cells due to e.g. the sluggish reaction kinetics of the steam/air electrode (positrode). To address this, in-depth studies of the reaction mechanisms are essential to understand the limitations of operating cells.
Therefore, we develop a finite element model of the two half-cell reactions aiming at the fundamental understanding of the electrodes and their limitations. Only fundamental kinetic parameters serve as input of the model based on theoretical and experimental studies such as DFT calculations and electrochemical measurements. The finite element model can be related to studies on microelectrodes with well-defined geometries which have been successfully employed to unravel different reaction pathways in solid oxide fuel cells. [1], [2]
The model electrodes are fabricated using common microstructuring techniques, i.e. photolithography and subsequent physical vapour deposition to form thin films.
This work is supported by FME HYDROGENi which is financed by its industry partners and the Norwegian government through the Research Council of Norway’s Centres for Environment-friendly Energy Research programme (FMETEKN, project no. 333118)