Self-sustainable protonic ceramic electrochemical cells using a triple conducting electrode for hydrogen and power production.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32312963.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-15677-z and PMC identifier 7171140.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The protonic ceramic electrochemical cell (PCEC) is an emerging and attractive technology that converts energy between power and hydrogen using solid oxide proton conductors at intermediate temperatures. To achieve efficient electrochemical hydrogen and power production with stable operation, highly robust and durable electrodes are urgently desired to facilitate water oxidation and oxygen reduction reactions, which are the critical steps for both electrolysis and fuel cell operation, especially at reduced temperatures. In this study, a triple conducting oxide of PrNi<sub>0.5</sub>Co<sub>0.5</sub>O<sub>3-δ</sub> perovskite is developed as an oxygen electrode, presenting superior electrochemical performance at 400~600 °C. More importantly, the self-sustainable and reversible operation is successfully demonstrated by converting the generated hydrogen in electrolysis mode to electricity without any hydrogen addition. The excellent electrocatalytic activity is attributed to the considerable proton conduction, as confirmed by hydrogen permeation experiment, remarkable hydration behavior and computations.