Nanostructured Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anodes

In theory, Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) can operate on any combustible fuel to enable efficient generation of electrical power from current fuels. Currently, low anode electrocatalytic activity and surface area requires SOFC operating temperatures above 700^oC; this is above the decomposition temperature of liquid hydrocarbon fuels. In order for SOFC to run on liquid hydrocarbon fuels, the temperature must be lowered. The anode must be catalytically active for hydrocarbon fuel oxidation and provide pathways for transport of all reactants and products (gas phase fuel and products, oxygen anions and electrons) to/from the active catalytic site.

One solution is to increase surface area through the use of 3D Ordered Porous (3DOP) nanostructured La_0.8Sr_0.2Cr_0.5Mn_0.5O_3-delta (LSCM). LSCM is a promising SOFC anode electrocatalyst. The 3DOP structure is fabricated by infiltration of LSCM precursor into a self-assembled colloidal crystal of polymer nanospheres. Sintering at high temperature results in a high surface area, ordered, inverse opal ‘honeycomb' structure. This ordered nanostructure will reduce path lengths for oxygen ion transport, provide significant surface area for the fuel oxidation reaction and enable facile gas transport in the anode. Ultimately, these factors will combine to enable reduction of direct hydrocarbon SOFC operating temperatures.