Abstract
Correlating the microstructure of an energy conversion device to its performance is often a complex exercise, notably in solid oxide fuel cell research. Solid oxide fuel cells combine multiple materials and interfaces that evolve in time due to high operating temperatures and reactive atmospheres. We demonstrate here that operando environmental transmission electron microscopy can identify structure-property links in such devices. By contacting a cathode-electrolyte-anode cell to a heating and biasing microelectromechanical system in a single-chamber configuration, a direct correlation is found between the environmental conditions (oxygen and hydrogen partial pressures, temperature), the cell open circuit voltage, and the microstructural evolution of the fuel cell, down to the atomic scale. The results shed important insights into the impact of the anode oxidation state and its morphology on the cell electrical properties.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 7959 |
| Journal | Nature Communications |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2023 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
Q.J., M.B., M.D. and T.E. acknowledge funding from the French microscopy network METSA ( www.metsa.fr ) for access to the ETEM. The environmental transmission electron microscopy work was performed at the Consortium Lyon-St-Etienne de Microscopie (CLYM, www.clym.fr ). M.B., T.E. and M.D. acknowledge funding from the INSTANT project of the France-Singapore MERLION program 2019-2020. M.D. acknowledges the Facilities for Analysis, Characterization, Testing and Simulations (FACTS) at the Nanyang Technological University for access to the FIB equipment, as well as financial support from the Nanyang Technological University start-up grant (Grant M4081924). The authors also would like to thank Z. Wuillemin for inputs regarding the SOFC samples.
