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Catalysis in an Electrochemical Cell: Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Electrolyzers and Electrochemical Sensors

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A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Electrocatalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 9261

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Massimiliano Lo Faro

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Institute of Advanced Energy Technologies (ITAE), The Italian National Research Council (CNR), 98126 Messina, Italy
Interests: smart material; electrocatalysts; protonic conductor; oxygen ion conductor; mixed ionic electronic conductors; ceramics; renewable; energy conversion; energy storage; solid oxide electrochemical devices
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue deals with a rapid dissemination of the most recent results concerning catalysis for solid oxide electrochemical cells operating at intermediate temperatures. These electrochemical cells have the potentiality to solve several issues in various sectors, such as monitoring of gases (i.e., industries, automobiles, etc.), the production of energy (a combination of thermal and electrical energy), storage and production of fuels from wastes.

The topics of this Special Issue will address the most recent achievements in electrode materials for future applications of these technologies, able to mitigate the environmental impact and the existing hurdles of conventional technologies.

Therefore, the topics of this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following aspects:

Detailed thermodynamics;
Detailed physical–chemical, electrochemical, and/or mechanical properties;
Fundamental analysis and modelling;
Analysis of requirements and cost estimate for large-scale production and operation;
Analysis of the environment impact.

Dr. Massimiliano Lo Faro
Guest Editor

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Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

fuel cell
electrolyser
sensor
protonic conductors
oxygen ion conductors
cermets
electrochemistry
mixed ionic electronic conductors

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 5617 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ni-Free SOFC Anode Material with Thermal and Redox Stabilities for the Direct Utilization of Ethanol

by Selma Aparecida Venâncio and Paulo Emilio Valadão de Miranda

Catalysts 2023, 13(1), 134; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal13010134 - 06 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1740

Abstract

The direct utilization of anhydrous ethanol in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), with oxygen-storage anode materials of the type Cu-(ZrxCe_1−xY_0.2O_2−δ-Al₂O₃), is presented. The ceramic processing of CeO₂-Al₂O₃ and 8YSZ (8% mol yttria stabilized zirconia) favors the reaction between Ceria and 8YSZ. Therefore, anode materials composed of active solid solutions, such as (Zr_0.25Ce_0.75)_0.8Y_0.2O_1.9 (cubic) and (Zr_0.50Ce_0.50)_0.8Y_0.2O_1.9 (tetragonal), in addition to the Al₂O₃ phase, are produced and prevent the formation of CeAlO₃. The anodes exhibited an excellent oxygen storage capacity, OSC, between 415 to 446 µmolg⁻¹. This occurred due to the replacement of Ce⁴⁺ by Zr⁴⁺, generating structural defects that increase the oxygen ion mobility and the activity of the Ce⁴⁺/Ce³⁺ redox pair. The anode material presenting the cubic phase showed a better electrochemical performance. The Al₂O₃ phase provided thermal stability and prevented the coarsening of the solid solution and loss of Ceria’s redox activity. It allowed for SOFC operation at high temperatures, since the yield increased as the operating temperature rose from 750 to 950 °C. An analysis of the results before and after the SOFC operation at 950 °C for 200 h revealed that there was no significant copper grains coarsening since the performance increased with the temperature. The redox behavior during the SOFC operation is also explained through a theoretical physical–chemical mechanism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalysis in an Electrochemical Cell: Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Electrolyzers and Electrochemical Sensors)

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14 pages, 2853 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Promoting Effect of Cu on Pd Applied to the Hydrazine Electro-Oxidation and Direct Hydrazine Fuel Cells

by Rudy Crisafulli, Dryade Ferreira de Paula, Sabrina C. Zignani, Lorenzo Spadaro, Alessandra Palella, Simona Boninelli, José A. Dias and José J. Linares

Catalysts 2022, 12(12), 1639; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12121639 - 14 Dec 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1638

Abstract

Use of liquid fuels in fuel cells is advantageous due to the easier and safer handling, transportation, and storage. Among the different options, hydrazine is of interest since the formation of highly poisoning carbonaceous species is avoided, in addition to its high energy density. In the search for more active direct hydrazine fuel cells (DHFC), this study analyzes the influence of Cu as an auxiliary metal on Pd. Three different Pd_xCu/C (x = 3, 1, and 0.33) catalysts were prepared by chemical reduction with NaBH₄. The materials were physiochemically characterized by X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Electrochemical analysis in a three-electrode glass cell and a single-cell DHFC was also carried out to study the impact on the electroactivity. Cu exerts a beneficial effect by reducing the adsorption energies of the adsorbed species and donating oxidized species for the completion of the hydrazine electro-oxidation, optimally balanced in the Pd₁Cu/C (maximum power density of 180 mW cm⁻²). As a counterpoint, Cu slightly promotes the non-faradaic decomposition of hydrazine, seen by a larger H₂ signal in mass spectroscopy in the anode exhaust at high current densities, which results in a slight loss in faradaic efficiency. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalysis in an Electrochemical Cell: Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Electrolyzers and Electrochemical Sensors)

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Review

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32 pages, 3987 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceReview

Fundamentals and Principles of Solid-State Electrochemical Sensors for High Temperature Gas Detection

by Elena Gorbova, Fotini Tzorbatzoglou, Costas Molochas, Dimitris Chloros, Anatoly Demin and Panagiotis Tsiakaras

Catalysts 2022, 12(1), 1; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12010001 - 21 Dec 2021

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4713

Abstract

The rapid development of science, technology, and engineering in the 21st century has offered a remarkable rise in our living standards. However, at the same time, serious environmental issues have emerged, such as acid rain and the greenhouse effect, which are associated with the ever-increasing need for energy consumption, 85% of which comes from fossil fuels combustion. From this combustion process, except for energy, the main greenhouse gases-carbon dioxide and steam-are produced. Moreover, during industrial processes, many hazardous gases are emitted. For this reason, gas-detecting devices, such as electrochemical gas sensors able to analyze the composition of a target atmosphere in real time, are important for further improving our living quality. Such devices can help address environmental issues and inform us about the presence of dangerous gases. Furthermore, as non-renewable energy sources run out, there is a need for energy saving. By analyzing the composition of combustion emissions of automobiles or industries, combustion processes can be optimized. This review deals with electrochemical gas sensors based on solid oxide electrolytes, which are employed for the detection of hazardous gasses at high temperatures and aggressive environments. The fundamentals, the principle of operation, and the configuration of potentiometric, amperometric, combined (amperometric-potentiometric), and mixed-potential gas sensors are presented. Moreover, the results of previous studies on carbon oxides (CO_x), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), hydrogen (H₂), oxygen (O₂), ammonia (NH₃), and humidity (steam) electrochemical sensors are reported and discussed. Emphasis is given to sensors based on oxygen ion and proton-conducting electrolytes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalysis in an Electrochemical Cell: Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Electrolyzers and Electrochemical Sensors)

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