About this Abstract |
Meeting |
MS&T23: Materials Science & Technology
|
Symposium
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Engineering Ceramics: Microstructure-Property-Performance Relations and Applications
|
Presentation Title |
Degradation of SOEC Air Electrodes After Sintering |
Author(s) |
Brian P. Gorman, Heather Slomski, Nicholas Strange, Sarah Shulda, Michael Dzara, David Ginley |
On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Brian P. Gorman |
Abstract Scope |
High Temperature Solid Oxide Electrolyzers (SOECs) are one of the primary technologies being investigated to meet the US DOE's Hydrogen Shot goals. Unfortunately, these multilayer heterogeneous ceramic devices suffer from degradation effects that limit their useful lifetimes. Using analytical characterization techniques such as Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) and synchrotron X-ray Diffraction, we illustrate that the air electrode comprised of (La,Sr)(Co,Fe)O3 decompose into several different phases after sintering at 1000°C including SrO, spinels, and LaFeO3. These decomposition products continue to evolve during electrochemical testing at 750°C and under electrical bias, ultimately diffusing throughout the entire multilayer stack. After 1000 hrs of testing, these secondary phases further react with other cell components including the ZrO2 electrolyte and CeO2 interlayer to produce other oxide phases such as SrZrO3 and CeCoFeO4. We hypothesize several other potential materials that do not produce reaction products and propose paths forward for long life SOECs. |