Engineering topics

Jin, Xinfang (ORCID:0000000231484904)

Publications and source records attributed to Jin, Xinfang (ORCID:0000000231484904).

3 records

DOE OSTI2023

Crack Growth Rate at Oxygen Electrode/Electrolyte Interface in Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells Predicted by Experiment Coupled Multiphysics Modeling

Solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) is a very efficient hydrogen production technology, but the cell degradation is a serious limiting factor for its long-term implementation. Oxygen electrode (OE) delamination is reported to be the critical degradation mechanism. In this study, we present a methodology to understand the delamination failure of the OE due to chemical stress in a better perspective. Several OE configurations were tested: baseline strontium-doped lanthanum cobalt iron oxide (LSCF) single layer design and tantalum-doped strontium cobalt oxide (SCT) - LSCF bilayer designs with different SCT loadings. An electro-chemo-mechanical model is developed to associate the electrochemical behavior of the cell with solid mechanics for calculating crack growth of the cell during long term test. The bilayer configuration with SCT 20 wt% has better performance as it survived in the long-term life test with the least crack length. This study implies that an additional nano-coating of SCT over the OE have improved the species transport and oxygen evolution with reduced chemical stress. As the operating current density decreases, it takes longer time for the cell to reach the delamination with the same critical crack length of 6.5 μ m (∼93% of the electrode/electrolyte interface length). Finally, it was concluded that chemical stress plays a significant role in interface delamination failure, however it may not be the only source of stresses at the interface.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2021

Modeling Electrokinetics of Oxygen Electrodes in Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cells

A microscale model is presented in this study to simulate electrode kinetics of the oxygen electrode in a solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC). Two mixed ionic/electronic conducting structures are examined for the oxygen producing electrode in this work: single layer porous lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF), and bilayer LSCF/SCT (strontium cobalt tantalum oxide) structures. A yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte separates the hydrogen and oxygen electrodes, as well as a gadolinium doped-ceria (GDC) buffer layer on the oxygen electrode side. Electrochemical reactions occurring at the two-phase boundaries (2PBs) and three-phase boundaries (3PBs) of single-layer LSCF and bilayer LSCF/SCT oxygen electrodes are modeled under various SOEC voltages with lattice oxygen stoichiometry as the key output. The results reveal that there exists a competition in electrode kinetics between 2PBs and 3PBs, but 3PBs are the primary reactive sites for single-layer LSCF oxygen electrode under high voltages. These locations experience the greatest oxygen stoichiometry variations and are therefore the most likely locations for dimensional changes. By applying an active SCT layer over LSCF, the 2PBs become activated to compete with the 3PBs, thus alleviating oxygen stoichiometry variations and reducing the likelihood of dimensional change. This strategy could reduce lattice structural expansion, proving to be valuable for electrode-electrolyte delamination prevention and will be the focus of future work.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗

DOE OSTI2020

Precautions of Using Three-Electrode Configuration to Measure Electrode Overpotential in Solid Oxide Electrochemical Cells: Insights from Finite Element Modeling

Accurate determination of electrode overpotentials is essential to assess the performance of the electrode and understand the rate-limiting steps involved. Three-electrode configuration with the use of a reference electrode at a fixed potential is a standard way to measure overpotential of a specific electrode in liquid electrochemical systems. However, application of such three-electrode configuration to solid electrochemical cells for overpotential determination is not straightforward and requires extra caution. Here we report a theoretical Finite Element Analysis on the geometrical requirements for which the reference electrode can be applied to anode- or electrolyte-supported solid oxide button cells. The modeling results suggest that the symmetry of the working and counter electrodes is the key factor determining if a reference electrode is suitable to use. For anode-supported fuel cells with asymmetrical working and counter electrodes, reference electrode cannot be used under all circumstances. To use reference electrode for overpotential measurements, electrolyte-supported cells with symmetrical semicircular-shaped electrodes are preferred. A data processing procedure has also been presented to obtain the electrode overpotential from the measured potential using the three-electrode scheme in solid oxide electrochemical cells.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗