Perovskites are materials that share a crystal structure similar to the mineral called perovskite, which consists of calcium titanium oxide (CaTiO3).
Depending on which atoms/molecules are used in the structure, perovskites can possess an impressive array of interesting properties including superconductivity, ferroelectricity, charge ordering, spin dependent transport and much more. Perovskites therefore hold exciting opportunities for physicists, chemists and material scientists.
Fuel cells are electrochemical energy conversion devices that produce electricity via chemical reaction. They convert potential chemical energy into electrical energy and generate heat as a by-product. A major advantage of fuel cells is that they are “green” - they generate electricity with very little pollution, as much of the hydrogen and oxygen used in generating electricity ultimately combine to form a harmless byproduct - water.
Fuel cells can be used in a wide range of applications, including transportation, material handling, stationary, portable, and emergency backup power applications. Fuel cells have several benefits over conventional combustion-based technologies currently used in many power plants and passenger vehicles; they can operate at higher efficiencies than combustion engines, and can convert the chemical energy in the fuel to electrical energy with efficiencies of up to 60%. Fuel cells have lower emissions than combustion engines. Hydrogen fuel cells emit only water, so there are no carbon dioxide emissions and negative impact on the environment.
It appears that designing inexpensive, efficient, reliable fuel cells is not such a simple affair.
Scientists have designed many different types and sizes of fuel cells in their search for greater efficiency. A major point is the choice of electrolyte. The design of electrodes, for example, and the materials used to make them, heavily depend on the used electrolyte.
The type of fuel also depends on the electrolyte. Some cells need pure hydrogen, and therefore demand extra equipment such as a "reformer" to purify the fuel. Other cells can tolerate some impurities, but might need higher temperatures to run efficiently. Liquid electrolytes circulate in some cells, which requires pumps. The type of electrolyte also dictates a cell's operating temperature.
Each type of fuel cell has advantages and drawbacks compared to the others, and none of them is currently cheap and efficient enough to widely replace traditional ways of generating power.
Perovskites have been studied for various parts of fuel cells. Components like electrolytes, electrodes and interconnects, have all been targeted as potential beneficiaries of perovskite materials. In SOFCs (solid oxide fuel cells), for example, all components (except for the sealant) can potentially be made of perovskite ceramics. In recent years, a significant amount of time has been invested researching the development of perovskite materials for fuel cells, identifying new mixed conductors and improving the operational performance of existing materials through development of improved cell designs. Hopefully perovskites will be able to improve fuel cell technology so it can be put into widespread use.
The latest Perovskite Fuel Cells news:
Rice scientists combine perovskite solar cells and catalytic electrodes to produce electricity
Rice University researchers have created an efficient, low-cost device that splits water to produce hydrogen fuel. The platform integrates catalytic electrodes and perovskite solar cells that, when triggered by sunlight, produce electricity. The current flows to the catalysts that turn water into hydrogen and oxygen, with a sunlight-to-hydrogen efficiency as high as 6.7%.
Hexagonal perovskites hold great potential for ceramic fuel cell technology
Researchers from the University of Aberdeen have reported that a new family of chemical compounds known as 'hexagonal perovskites' could be extremely beneficial for ceramic fuel cell technology and reducing global carbon emissions.
Ceramic fuel cells are highly efficient devices that convert chemical energy into electrical energy and produce very low emissions if powered by hydrogen, providing a clean alternative to fossil fuels. Another advantage of ceramic fuel cells is that they can also use hydrocarbon fuels such as methane, meaning they can act as a 'bridging' technology which is an important asset in terms of the move away from hydrocarbons towards cleaner energy sources.
Perovskites found promising for low-temperature ammonia production
A team of researchers from Japan's Tokyo Tech have demonstrated perovskites' potential in the production of ammonia directly from hydrogen and nitrogen. This has the potential to open up a new approach to the manufacture of this industrially and agrochemically important gas. Ammonia is used widely an industrial reagent and in the formation of agricultural fertilizers, there are also examples of it being used as a "clean" energy carrier for hydrogen gas for fuel cells.
Masaaki Kitano and his team at Tokyo Tech point out that the main barrier to a facile synthesis of ammonia from hydrogen and nitrogen gas is the surmounting the high energy barrier needed to split diatomic nitrogen. Nitrogen-fixing plants, of course, can handle this process with a range of enzymes evolved over millions of years and metals catalysts coupled with high temperatures and pressures are the mainstays of the industrial process. There have been efforts to make perovskites in which some of their oxygen atoms have been replaced with hydrogen and nitrogen ions to act as ammonia forming materials, but these too only work at a high temperature of more than 800 degrees Celsius and the reaction takes weeks to proceed to completion. These two factors had until now meant perovskites were not looking too promising as a way to create a new ammonia process.
Perovskite nickelates examined as a potential boost to electrocatalysis
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are evaluating perovskite-structured rare-earth nickelates as alternatives to replace two reactions that are considered a challenge when it comes to electrocatalysts: the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Both are important for the development of better fuel cells, metal-air batteries, and electrolytic water-splitting.
Materials such as platinum, iridium oxide and ruthenium oxide are well suited for these reactions, but they are scarce and expensive. The team has been working to study perovskite-structured rare-earth nickelates (RNiO3) that can serve as bifunctional catalysts capable of performing both OER and ORR.
A new fuel cell with a perovskite-based cathode shows exceptional power density and stability
A team of researchers at Northwestern University has created a new fuel cell with a perovskite-based cathode, that offers both exceptional power densities and long-term stability at optimal temperatures.
"For years, industry has told us that the holy grail is getting fuel cells to work at 500-degrees Celsius and with high power density, which means a longer life and less expensive components," said the team. "With this research, we can now envision a path to making cost-effective fuel cells and transforming the energy landscape."
KAIST researchers use perovskites to maximize the lifespan of fuel cells
Fuel cells are a hoped to be a key future energy technology for achieving renewable energy sources that are eco-friendly and low-cost. In particular, solid oxide fuel cells composed of ceramic materials are gaining increasing amounts of attention for their ability to directly convert various forms of fuel such as biomass, LNG, and LPG to electric energy. Researchers at KAIST have relied on pervoskite materials to develop a new technique to improve the chemical stability of electrode materials that can extend their lifespan by employing minimal amounts of metals.
The core factor that determines the performance of solid oxide fuel cells is the cathode at which the reduction reaction of oxygen takes place. Conventionally, perovskite structure oxides (ABO3) are used in cathodes. However, despite the high performance of perovskite oxides at initial operation, performance degrades with time, limiting their long-term use. In particular, the condition of a high-temperature oxidation state required for cathode operation leads to a surface segregation phenomenon in which second phases such as strontium oxide (SrOx) accumulate on the surface of oxides, resulting in a decrease in electrode performance. The detailed mechanism of this phenomenon and a way to effectively inhibit it has not been suggested.
Peorvskite nanofibers show potential as next-gen catalysts for OER
A team of researchers from the U.S-based Georgia Institute of Technology have designed ultrafine perovskite nanofibers as highly efficient and stable catalysts for OER - oxygen evolution reaction, a component reaction of the electrochemical splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen. Water splitting is a key step in a number of sustainable energy technologies including hydrogen production, fuel cells, and rechargeable metal-air batteries.
The OER takes place at the anode of an electrolyzer, while the hydrogen evolution reaction takes place at the cathode. The energy required for the reaction is supplied by an electronic current. Currently, a large overpotential is required to accelerate the OER. For this reason, water splitting technologies for hydrogen production are not very competitive as the increased energy required results in more expensive hydrogen compared with production from natural gas. Therefore, much research is focused on the search for cost-effective, efficient and stable catalysts for the OER that can reduce the required overpotential. The new research highlights the potential of doped double perovskite nanofibers as the next generation of OER catalysts.
Pervoskites enable a promising cathode material for low-temperature solid-oxide fuel cells
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) has collaborated with researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia, and Shandong University and Nanjing Tech Universities in China on research investigating the possible synergistic effects of a new perovskite cathode material for a low-temperature solid-oxide fuel cell (LT-SOFC) that demonstrates impressive and stable electrochemical performance below 500 °C.
Solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC) convert the chemical energy in fuel into electricity directly by the oxidation of the fuel. These cells are considered to be highly efficient, exhibit long-term stability, produce low emissions, and are relatively low cost.
Surface engineering improves the stability of perovskite-based electrocatalysts for fuel cells
Researchers at MIT tackled the known problem of degradation suffered when perovskite oxides, promising candidates for electrodes in energy conversion devices like fuel cells, are exposed to water or gases such as oxygen or carbon dioxide at elevated temperatures.
The scientists explain that this degradation occurs as the surfaces of these perovskites get covered up by a strontium oxide'related layer, and this layer is insulating against oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions, which are critical for the performance of fuel cells, electrolyzers and thermochemical fuel production. This layer on the electrode surface is detrimental to the efficiency and durability of the device, causing the surface reactions to slow down by more than an order of magnitude.
Perovskites as stable electrolytes to improve fuel cells
Researchers at Purdue University have found that nickel-based perovskites have exceptional properties for use as solid electrolytes in fuel cells. Unlike conventional electrolytes, these nickel-based perovskites are chemically stable in the fuel cell's environment, which could lead to higher performing and longer lasting fuel cells.
Schematic of the perovskite samarium nickelate (SNO)-electrolyte solid-oxide fuel cell.
Solid-oxide fuel cells are considered as one of the most efficient types of fuel cells. They typically use polymers or ceramics as an electrolyte, but finding an effective solid electrolyte'one that conducts protons but blocks electrons'at low operating temperatures of 300'500°C has been a challenge. Most materials, when exposed to low pressure, start to lose oxygen and become electron conductors; The electrolyte separator becomes leaky so it can short circuit the fuel cell or it can start to crack and allow fuel to mix with oxygen.
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