Direct imaging of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) materials and components can provide unprecedented insight into factors limiting performance and durability, inaccessible by other techniques. The performance of SOFC electrodes is dependent on their nano/micro-structure as electrochemical reactions occur within the electrodes. Furthermore, during processing or operation, microstructural evolution may degrade electrochemical performance. Tomographic techniques enable the 3D imaging and characterisation of complex microstructures at length scales down towards tens of nanometers. However, although many studies have ultilised 3D imaging, there is a need to understand the information beyond elementary metrics. Increasingly large quantities of 3D data are being acquired and yet are poorly understood. Characterisation of specific necks and interfaces within SOFC electrodes is derived. Micro/nano structural changes are followed to facilitate understanding of the differences which occur with shape, structures and morphology at high resolution. These are correlated with measured experimental values to provide insight into microstructure-property relationships. Our results also reveal that current manufacturing methods of ink preparation may cause particle clustering, and we show how this may be tracked. The ability to follow or understand these spatial variations within a 3D data volume provides a measurable method of following degradation associated with microstructural change in these electrodes, and thereby offer insight into how these may be mitigated in the future through intelligently designed microstructures.
Tomography - beyond the pretty pictures to numbers for 3D SOFC Electrodes
Bertei AInvestigation
;
2016-01-01
Abstract
Direct imaging of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) materials and components can provide unprecedented insight into factors limiting performance and durability, inaccessible by other techniques. The performance of SOFC electrodes is dependent on their nano/micro-structure as electrochemical reactions occur within the electrodes. Furthermore, during processing or operation, microstructural evolution may degrade electrochemical performance. Tomographic techniques enable the 3D imaging and characterisation of complex microstructures at length scales down towards tens of nanometers. However, although many studies have ultilised 3D imaging, there is a need to understand the information beyond elementary metrics. Increasingly large quantities of 3D data are being acquired and yet are poorly understood. Characterisation of specific necks and interfaces within SOFC electrodes is derived. Micro/nano structural changes are followed to facilitate understanding of the differences which occur with shape, structures and morphology at high resolution. These are correlated with measured experimental values to provide insight into microstructure-property relationships. Our results also reveal that current manufacturing methods of ink preparation may cause particle clustering, and we show how this may be tracked. The ability to follow or understand these spatial variations within a 3D data volume provides a measurable method of following degradation associated with microstructural change in these electrodes, and thereby offer insight into how these may be mitigated in the future through intelligently designed microstructures.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.