Placement of reference electrode, electrolyte thickness and three-electrode cell configuration in solid oxide fuel cells: A brief review and update on experimental approach

© 2017 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved. Cell configuration and placement of reference electrode (RE) have been a subject of intensive interests to the solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) communities. Here, the relationship between the position of RE, electrolyte thickness, electrode/ele...

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Main Author: Jiang, San Ping
Format: Journal Article
Published: The Electrochemical Society, Inc 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63387
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author Jiang, San Ping
author_facet Jiang, San Ping
author_sort Jiang, San Ping
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2017 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved. Cell configuration and placement of reference electrode (RE) have been a subject of intensive interests to the solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) communities. Here, the relationship between the position of RE, electrolyte thickness, electrode/electrolyte contact and reliability of 3-electrode cell configuration in electrode polarization and resistance separation is briefly reviewed with particular emphasis on the experimental approach. Numerous modelling studies show that distortion to the electrochemical impedance measurement of electrode reactions on thin electrolyte cells is not avoidable due to the misalignment of working and counter electrodes (WE and CE) and the differences in their electrochemical characteristics. This has been verified experimentally that the asymmetric contact at the electrode/electrolyte interface can cause the shift of equipotential line/surface away from the electrolyte region, leading to the significant distortion in the polarization measurements. However, the distortion effect of misalignment on the equipotential line/surface depends strongly on the electrolyte thickness. In the case of SOFCs with model La 0.8 Sr 0.2 MnO 3 cathode and Ni-yttriastabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ) cermet anode, the threshold for YSZ electrolyte thickness with equal partitioning of the cell resistance is ∼250 μm. In conclusion, for reliable and accurate polarization and impedance measurements in electrolyte-supported cells, it is suggested that minimum YSZ electrolyte thickness should be 250 μm for plate cells with electrode areas of ∼10 cm 2 and 500 μm for button cells with electrode areas less than 1 cm 2 for symmetric 3-electrode cell configurations with RE positioned on the inactive surface of electrolyte.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-633872018-02-06T07:38:53Z Placement of reference electrode, electrolyte thickness and three-electrode cell configuration in solid oxide fuel cells: A brief review and update on experimental approach Jiang, San Ping © 2017 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved. Cell configuration and placement of reference electrode (RE) have been a subject of intensive interests to the solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) communities. Here, the relationship between the position of RE, electrolyte thickness, electrode/electrolyte contact and reliability of 3-electrode cell configuration in electrode polarization and resistance separation is briefly reviewed with particular emphasis on the experimental approach. Numerous modelling studies show that distortion to the electrochemical impedance measurement of electrode reactions on thin electrolyte cells is not avoidable due to the misalignment of working and counter electrodes (WE and CE) and the differences in their electrochemical characteristics. This has been verified experimentally that the asymmetric contact at the electrode/electrolyte interface can cause the shift of equipotential line/surface away from the electrolyte region, leading to the significant distortion in the polarization measurements. However, the distortion effect of misalignment on the equipotential line/surface depends strongly on the electrolyte thickness. In the case of SOFCs with model La 0.8 Sr 0.2 MnO 3 cathode and Ni-yttriastabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ) cermet anode, the threshold for YSZ electrolyte thickness with equal partitioning of the cell resistance is ∼250 μm. In conclusion, for reliable and accurate polarization and impedance measurements in electrolyte-supported cells, it is suggested that minimum YSZ electrolyte thickness should be 250 μm for plate cells with electrode areas of ∼10 cm 2 and 500 μm for button cells with electrode areas less than 1 cm 2 for symmetric 3-electrode cell configurations with RE positioned on the inactive surface of electrolyte. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63387 10.1149/2.1331707jes The Electrochemical Society, Inc restricted
spellingShingle Jiang, San Ping
Placement of reference electrode, electrolyte thickness and three-electrode cell configuration in solid oxide fuel cells: A brief review and update on experimental approach
title Placement of reference electrode, electrolyte thickness and three-electrode cell configuration in solid oxide fuel cells: A brief review and update on experimental approach
title_full Placement of reference electrode, electrolyte thickness and three-electrode cell configuration in solid oxide fuel cells: A brief review and update on experimental approach
title_fullStr Placement of reference electrode, electrolyte thickness and three-electrode cell configuration in solid oxide fuel cells: A brief review and update on experimental approach
title_full_unstemmed Placement of reference electrode, electrolyte thickness and three-electrode cell configuration in solid oxide fuel cells: A brief review and update on experimental approach
title_short Placement of reference electrode, electrolyte thickness and three-electrode cell configuration in solid oxide fuel cells: A brief review and update on experimental approach
title_sort placement of reference electrode, electrolyte thickness and three-electrode cell configuration in solid oxide fuel cells: a brief review and update on experimental approach
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63387