Search NASA⌕ Search
Home/Archive/DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI · 1644391

Self-regulating surface chemistry for more robust highly durable solid oxide fuel cell cathodes

Tuller, Harry L·Nicollet, Clement
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) offer direct conversion of hydrogen or hydrocarbon fuels to electricity with high energy conversion efficiency (>50%). Impurities that block active reaction sites on the electrode surface can markedly degrade the oxygen exchange rate, and lead to a reduction in long term durability of such devices. In this work, we propose to develop electrodes that are tolerant to Si which is one of the most prevalent cathode impurities. This work draws on our recent method to fully recover oxygen exchange kinetics following Si induced aging of ceria containing cathodes. We take advantage of elements, which over time during SOFC operation, are released by exsolution to actively trap (i.e. getter) Si impurities in a self-regulating chemical fashion. The objective is to evaluate impurity scavenging by added reactive elements that are intentionally exsolved from the SOFC cathode electrode during operation. In this study, we chose to focus our effort on one cathode material: Pr doped ceria (PCO). This material has the advantage of not containing strontium, an element known to segregate to the surface of the well-known perovkite based cathodes materials, thereby degrading their performance. As for the Si getter, we choose to focus on lanthanum, which is added in PCO in solid solution.

Explore related subjects

03 NATURAL GAS08 HYDROGEN30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION36 MATERIALS SCIENCE47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGYcathodesdegradationoxygen exchangepoisonssolid oxide fuel cells

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Tuller, Harry L, Nicollet, Clement. 2019-10-02. Self-regulating surface chemistry for more robust highly durable solid oxide fuel cell cathodes. https://doi.org/10.2172/1644391

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related reports

DOE OSTI2026

Green Era Anaerobic Digester

Green Era Educational NFP constructed and commissioned the Green Era Renewable Energy & Urban Farming Campus in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood. The project transformed a long-vacant brownfield site into a commercial-scale anaerobic digestion facility that converts food waste into renewable natural gas and nutrient-rich material for agricultural use. The facility can process up to 80,000 wet tons of food waste annually and supports approximately 15 permanent jobs while advancing food waste diversion, renewable energy production, nutrient recovery and community revitalization.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Circumventing thermodynamic limitations in converting carbon dioxide into carbon nanotubes via tandem catalysis

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are important materials for electronics and structural composites, but their production still relies on hydrocarbon-based chemical vapor deposition, an energy-intensive and fossil-dependent process, limited by rapid catalyst deactivation. Using CO2 as a carbon feedstock offers a sustainable route for CNT synthesis, yet direct CO2 conversion to CNTs is thermodynamically unfavorable and existing CO2-to-carbon pathways mainly yield amorphous or weakly graphitized solids. Here, we demonstrate a tandem electrochemical–thermochemical (EC-TC) strategy that overcomes these limitations. CO2 is first electrochemically reduced to a tunable mixture of C2H4 and CO, which is directly fed into a thermochemical reactor and converted into CNTs with controllable morphology and high CNT-to-metal mass ratios (~200) over NiFe catalysts at 750 °C. In situ synchrotron-based characterization and density functional theory calculations reveal that CO dissociation and C2H4 decomposition on NiFe alloys cooperatively promote CNT nucleation and sustained growth. This EC-TC strategy establishes a modular route for converting CO2 into value-added carbon nanomaterials.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Coordinated Natural Gas and Electric Planning: Case Studies of Current Approaches and Practices

This paper examines how natural gas and electric utilities across eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces are beginning to coordinate historically separate planning processes in response to growing system interdependencies, policy mandates, aging infrastructure, and changing customer energy choices. Electricity planning has long relied on robust integrated resource planning frameworks that weigh numerous objectives, risks, and costs. Natural gas planning, on the other hand, is typically less transparent and more narrowly focused on safety and system integrity. As economic, reliability, and policy drivers place new and shared demands on both systems, jurisdictions and utilities are experimenting with approaches such as coordinated forecasting, non pipeline alternatives, and combined planning pilots. A few have issued regulatory or statutory directives for greater data sharing and methodological alignment. Case studies from British Columbia, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Québec, Rhode Island, and Washington illustrate a wide range of approaches to rethinking siloed planning. The paper identifies several common themes across the jurisdictions examined. It provides observations on the methods, processes, and organizational steps that may be needed in the future to address the challenges being faced by states and utilities. Lastly, it identifies some initial steps that states and utilities can consider if they would like to pursue more integrated, cost-effective, policy-aligned energy system planning.

03 NATURAL GAS↗