Self-Construction of Efficient Interfaces Ensures High-Performance Direct Ammonia Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cells.

He, Fan; Hou, Mingyang; Du, Zhiwei; Zhu, Feng; Cao, Xiaozhuo; Ding, Yong; Zhou, Yucun; Liu, Meilin et al. · Adv Mater · 2023

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Direct ammonia protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are highly efficient energy conversion devices since ammonia as a carbon-neutral hydrogen-rich carrier shows great potential for storage and long-distance transportation when compared with hydrogen fuel. However, traditional Ni-based anodes readily suffer from severe structural destruction and dramatic deactivation after long-time exposure to ammonia. Here a Sr<sub>2</sub> Fe<sub>1.35</sub> Mo<sub>0.45</sub> Cu<sub>0.2</sub> O<sub>6-δ</sub> (SFMC) anode catalytic layer (ACL) painted onto a Ni-BaZr<sub>0.1</sub> Ce<sub>0.7</sub> Y<sub>0.1</sub> Yb<sub>0.1</sub> O<sub>3-</sub> <sub>δ</sub> (BZCYYb) anode with enhanced catalytic activity and durability toward the direct utilization of ammonia is reported. A tubular Ni-BZCYYb anode-supported cells with the SFMC ACL show excellent peak power densities of 1.77 W cm<sup>-2</sup> in wet H<sub>2</sub> (3% H<sub>2</sub> O) and 1.02 W cm<sup>-2</sup> in NH<sub>3</sub> at 650 °C. A relatively stable operation of the cells is obtained at 650 °C for 200 h in ammonia fuel. Such achieved improvements in the activity and durability are attributed to the self-constructed interfaces with the phases of NiCu or/and NiFe for efficient NH<sub>3</sub> decomposition, resulting in a strong NH<sub>3</sub> adsorption strength of the SFMC, as confirmed by NH<sub>3</sub> thermal conversion and NH<sub>3</sub> -temperature programmed desorption. This research offers a valuable strategy of applying an internal catalytic layer for highly active and durable ammonia PCFCs.