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Enhancing charge transfer kinetics by nanoscale catalytic cermet interlayer
Jihwan An1, Young-Beom Kim, Turgut M Gür
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|November 16, 2012
Summary
Adding thin yttria-stabilized zirconia/platinum (YSZ/Pt) cermet layers significantly boosts oxygen reduction kinetics in low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells. This enhancement improves power density by increasing catalytic sites and triple phase boundary density.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
- Energy Conversion
Background:
- Optimizing catalytic site density is key for improving energy conversion device performance.
- Low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs) require efficient oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) for enhanced functionality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the kinetic role of 2 nm YSZ/Pt cermet interlayers in enhancing ORR kinetics for LT-SOFCs.
- To explore the catalytic contribution of the cermet layer and the impact of Pt/YSZ mixing on cell performance.
Main Methods:
- Atomic layer deposition (ALD) was used to deposit thin YSZ/Pt cermet interlayers between a Pt cathode and YSZ electrolyte.
- Electrochemical performance was evaluated by comparing cells with and without cermet interlayers at various temperatures (400 °C and 450 °C).
Main Results:
- Cells with unmixed and fully mixed cermet interlayers showed power density enhancements of 1.5x and 1.8x at 400 °C, and 2.3x and 2.7x at 450 °C, respectively, compared to control cells.
- The performance improvement is attributed to increased triple phase boundary (TPB) density within the cermet interlayer.
- Fully mixed cermet layers demonstrated sustained kinetics due to improved thermal stability of Pt islands within the YSZ matrix.
Conclusions:
- Thin YSZ/Pt cermet interlayers effectively enhance oxygen reduction kinetics in LT-SOFCs.
- ALD-deposited cermet layers, particularly fully mixed ones, offer a viable strategy to increase TPB density and improve fuel cell performance and stability.
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