Preconditioning treatment to enhance redox tolerance of solid oxide fuel cells

Abstract

A high temperature, redox tolerant fuel cell anode electrode and method of fabrication in which the anode electrode is pre-conditioned by application of an initial controlled redox cycle to the electrode whereby an initial re-oxidation of the anode electrode is carried out at temperatures less than or equal to about 650° C.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] This invention relates to high temperature fuel cells having metal-containing anode electrodes, in particular, solid oxide fuel cells and, more particularly, to solid oxide fuel cell anode electrodes. More particularly yet, this invention relates to solid oxide fuel cell anode electrodes that are redox tolerant, solid oxide fuel cells comprising such electrodes, and a method for enhancing the redox tolerance of such electrodes. [0003] 2. Description of Related Art [0004] Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert the chemical energy of a fuel into electrical energy with high efficiency. The basic physical structure of a fuel cell consists of an electrolyte layer with a porous anode electrode and porous cathode electrode on opposed sides of the electrolyte. In a typical fuel cell, gaseous fuels, typically hydrogen, are continuously fed to the anode electrode and an oxidant, typically oxygen from air, is cont...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007] It is, thus, one object of this invention to provide a solid oxide fuel cell having enhanced tolerance to the effects of redox cycling.

[0008] It is one object of this invention to provide a solid oxide fuel cell anode electrode having enhanced tolerance to the effects of redox cycling.

[0009] It is another object of this invention to provide a method for enhancing the redox tolerance of solid oxide fuel cell anode electrodes.

Problems solved by technology

However, there are potentially several occurrences, such as air leakage into the anode side of the fuel cell due to seal leakage, fuel supply interruption, and emergency stops, which may cause the anode electrode to re-oxidize, forming an NiO / YSZ structure.

However, this reduction and oxidation process (referred to as redox cycling) results in substantial bulk volume changes of the anode electrode.

Although, due to expansion into the pores, a NiO / YSZ solid oxide fuel cell anode electrode is unlikely to experience such a drastic volume change, any volume change that does occur can have a significant effect on the integrity of other cell components (e.g. electrolyte cracking) and cell component interfaces, which can, in turn, result in a significant degradation in the performance of the fuel cell.

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