Work

Enhancing commercial SOFCs fed directly with ethanol through a modified manganite coating

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a novel approach to solve the problem of the fast decay of commercial SOFCs when fueled with direct-ethanol. The LSMN material is used as a coating layer applied to the anode, aimed at simplifying the fuel and suppressing the cracking mechanism that usually occurs on Ni anodes. The electrochemical analysis of the cell at 700°C, including a durability test, polarization curves, and EIS analyses, revealed that it was highly stable. As shown by the decreased diffusion constraint observed in the I-V curves after prolonged operation, as well as the presence of three semicircles in the EIS spectrum, this behavior can be explained by the simplification of the fuel. A study of LSMN using X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy demonstrated that the initial perovskite structure of the fresh specimen is modified by the Ni exsolution and partial Mn reduction and that under operating conditions, Mn undergoes a further reduction process. Despite the modification occurring on the original perovskite structure suggesting new mixed ionic-electronic conduction (MIEC) properties for the LSMN, the experimental evidence presented in this paper proved the effectiveness of the approach of coating commercial SOFCs with active materials and suggests that this procedure can be further improved.

Source: Chemical Engineering Journal

DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2025.162981