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1. Power and carbon monoxide co-production by a proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cell with La 0.6 Sr 0.2 Cr 0.85 Ni 0.15 O 3−δ for on-cell dry reforming of CH 4 by CO 2

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D0TA03458D  

   Wei, Tong ; Qiu, Peng ; Jia, Lichao ; Tan, Yuan ; Yang, Xin ; Sun, Shichen ; Chen, Fanglin ; Li, Jian ( May 2020 , Journal of Materials Chemistry A)

   null (Ed.)

   To directly use a CO 2 –CH 4 gas mixture for power and CO co-production by proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (H-SOFCs), a layer of in situ reduced La 0.6 Sr 0.2 Cr 0.85 Ni 0.15 O 3−δ (LSCrN@Ni) is fabricated on a Ni–BaZr 0.1 Ce 0.7 Y 0.1 Yb 0.1 O 3−δ (BZCYYb) anode-supported H-SOFC (H-DASC) for on-cell CO 2 dry reforming of CH 4 (DRC). For demonstrating the effectiveness of LSCrN@Ni, a cell without adding the LSCrN@Ni catalyst (H-CASC) is also studied comparatively. Fueled with H 2 , both H-CASC and H-DASC show similar stable performance with a maximum power density ranging from 0.360 to 0.816 W cm −2 at temperatures between 550 and 700 °C. When CO 2 –CH 4 is used as the fuel, the performance and stability of H-CASC decreases considerably with a maximum power density of 0.287 W cm −2 at 700 °C and a sharp drop in cell voltage from the initial 0.49 to 0.10 V within 20 h at 0.6 A cm −2 . In contrast, H-DASC demonstrates a maximum power density of 0.605 W cm −2 and a stable cell voltage above 0.65 V for 65 h. This is attributed to highly efficient on-cell DRC by LSCrN@Ni. 

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2. Concentrated ternary ether electrolyte allows for stable cycling of a lithium metal battery with commercial mass loading high‐nickel NMC and thin anodes

   https://doi.org/10.1002/cey2.275  

   Yang, Jun ; Li, Xing ; Qu, Ke ; Wang, Yixian ; Shen, Kangqi ; Jiang, Changhuan ; Yu, Bo ; Luo, Pan ; Li, Zhuangzhi ; Chen, Mingyang ; et al ( March 2023 , Carbon Energy)

   A new concentrated ternary salt ether‐based electrolyte enables stable cycling of lithium metal battery (LMB) cells with high‐mass‐loading (13.8 mg cm⁻², 2.5 mAh cm⁻²) NMC622 (LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂) cathodes and 50 μm Li anodes. Termed “CETHER‐3,” this electrolyte is based on LiTFSI, LiDFOB, and LiBF₄with 5 vol% fluorinated ethylene carbonate in 1,2‐dimethoxyethane. Commercial carbonate and state‐of‐the‐art binary salt ether electrolytes were also tested as baselines. With CETHER‐3, the electrochemical performance of the full‐cell battery is among the most favorably reported in terms of high‐voltage cycling stability. For example, LiNi_xMn_yCo_1–x–yO₂(NMC)‐Li metal cells retain 80% capacity at 430 cycles with a 4.4 V cut‐off and 83% capacity at 100 cycles with a 4.5 V cut‐off (charge at C/5, discharge at C/2). According to simulation by density functional theory and molecular dynamics, this favorable performance is an outcome of enhanced coordination between Li⁺and the solvent/salt molecules. Combining advanced microscopy (high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy) and surface science (X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, time‐of‐fight secondary ion mass spectroscopy, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy), it is demonstrated that a thinner and more stable cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) and solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) are formed. The CEI is rich in lithium sulfide (Li₂SO₃), while the SEI is rich in Li₃N and LiF. During cycling, the CEI/SEI suppresses both the deleterious transformation of the cathode R‐3m layered near‐surface structure into disordered rock salt and the growth of lithium metal dendrites.

    

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3. Electrodeposition of atmosphere-sensitive ternary sodium transition metal oxide films for sodium-based electrochemical energy storage

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2025044118  

   Patra, Arghya ; Davis, III, Jerome ; Pidaparthy, Saran ; Karigerasi, Manohar H. ; Zahiri, Beniamin ; Kulkarni, Ashish A. ; Caple, Michael A. ; Shoemaker, Daniel P. ; Zuo, Jian Min ; Braun, Paul V. ( May 2021 , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   We introduce an intermediate-temperature (350 °C) dry molten sodium hydroxide-mediated binder-free electrodeposition process to grow the previously electrochemically inaccessible air- and moisture-sensitive layered sodium transition metal oxides, Na_xMO₂(M = Co, Mn, Ni, Fe), in both thin and thick film form, compounds which are conventionally synthesized in powder form by solid-state reactions at temperatures ≥700 °C. As a key motivation for this work, several of these oxides are of interest as cathode materials for emerging sodium-ion–based electrochemical energy storage systems. Despite the low synthesis temperature and short reaction times, our electrodeposited oxides retain the key structural and electrochemical performance observed in high-temperature bulk synthesized materials. We demonstrate that tens of micrometers thick >75% dense Na_xCoO₂and Na_xMnO₂can be deposited in under 1 h. When used as cathodes for sodium-ion batteries, these materials exhibit near theoretical gravimetric capacities, chemical diffusion coefficients of Na⁺ions (∼10⁻¹²cm²⋅s⁻¹), and high reversible areal capacities in the range ∼0.25 to 0.76 mA⋅h⋅cm⁻², values significantly higher than those reported for binder-free sodium cathodes deposited by other techniques. The method described here resolves longstanding intrinsic challenges associated with traditional aqueous solution-based electrodeposition of ceramic oxides and opens a general solution chemistry approach for electrochemical processing of hitherto unexplored air- and moisture-sensitive high valent multinary structures with extended frameworks.

    

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4. Fabrication and preliminary testing of patterned silver cathodes for proton conducting IT-SOFCs

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MA00793F  

   Sozal, Md Shariful ; Li, Wenhao ; Das, Suprabha ; Jafarizadeh, Borzooye ; Chowdhury, Azmal Huda ; Wang, Chunlei ; Cheng, Zhe ( January 2024 , Materials Advances)

   Dense silver (Ag) cathodes with defined triple phase boundary (TPB between the interface of electrolyte, electrode, and gas) lengths (LTPB) and electrode areas (AELT) were fabricated by photolithography and E-beam evaporation over a proton conducting BaZr0.4Ce0.4Y0.1Yb0.1O3−δ (BZCYYb4411) electrolyte. A bi-layer lift-off resist method appears to be more versatile than a single layer lift-off resist method for successful patterned cathode fabrication. The electrochemical behaviors of the patterned Ag cathodes over the BZCYYb4411 electrolyte were tested by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) at different temperatures in atmospheres with different concentrations of O2 and H2O. The results were processed using Distribution of Relaxation Times (DRT) and reaction order analyses and also fitted to equivalent circuits. The directions for future work on patterned electrodes with different LTPB and AELT and theoretical calculations to gain further insights into the kinetics and mechanism of the cathode oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) over proton conducting electrolytes are pointed out. 

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5. Progress in proton‐conducting oxides as electrolytes for low‐temperature solid oxide fuel cells: From materials to devices

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ese3.886  

   Zhang, Wei ; Hu, Yun Hang ( March 2021 , Energy Science & Engineering)

   Among various types of alternative energy devices, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) operating at low temperatures (300‐600°C) show the advantages for both stationary and mobile electricity production. Proton‐conducting oxides as electrolyte materials play a critical role in the low‐temperature SOFCs (LT‐SOFCs). This review summarizes progress in proton‐conducting solid oxide electrolytes for LT‐SOFCs from materials to devices, with emphases on (1) strategies that have been proposed to tune the structures and properties of proton‐conducting oxides and ceramics, (2) techniques that have been employed for improving the performance of the protonic ceramic‐based SOFCs (known as PCFCs), and (3) challenges and opportunities in the development of proton‐conducting electrolyte‐based PCFCs.

    

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