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Enhanced CO2 Electrolysis and Improved Durability Realized at Redox Manipulated Interfaces

Electrochemical energy conversion and storage technologies are promising, whereas in most electrochemical systems, the interface between active components is generally of great importance in determining the functionality of any application of energetic materials.  

In a study published in Nature Communications, the research group led by Prof. XIE Kui from Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter (FJIRSM) of Chinese Academy of Sciences report a generic approach of interface engineering to achieve active interfaces at nanoscale by a synergistic control of materials functions and interface architectures. 

XIE's group revealed that the redox-manipulated interfaces facilitate the transfer of atomic oxygen from the adsorbed CO2 molecules to the cathode array that determines the electrolysis rate of CO2 at elevated temperatures. 

Solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) is a highly efficient high temperature approach that reduces polarization losses and makes the best use of process heat. Composite cathodes with interfaces developed in situ demonstrate significantly enhanced CO2 electrolysis and improved durability.

For the cerium oxide system, they found that the conductivity rebalancing time was significantly reduced from 6400 to 600 s for samples with in situ growth of dissolved interfaces, while the oxygen exchange coefficient (Kex) was enhanced by ~15 times from 2.0 × 10-5 to 2.92 × 10-4 cm s-1.  

Meanwhile, they found that the conductivity rebalance time drops significantly from 15490 to 535 s for the titanium oxide system with in situ growth of dissolved metal nanoparticles, while the oxygen exchange coefficient (Kex) is improved about 7 times, from 2.6 × 10-5 to 1.78 × 10-4 cm s-1. 

The metallic nickel cathodes are investigated with 80%CO2/2%CO/Ar under applied voltages of 0.4–1.6 V at 800 °C. The current–voltage (I–V) curves clearly reveal the superior performance with 300% enhancement for the porous nickel with in situ growth of MnOx nanoparticles in comparison to the bare nickel cathode. 

The observed current density with Cu0.5Ni0.5-ceria cathode reaches ~1.3 Acm-2 at 1.6 V which is 200% enhancement in contrast to bare ceria cathode. 

The current densities with Ni/Nb1.33(Ti0.8M0.2)0.67O4 (M= Mn,Cr) cathodes reach ~1.6 Acm-2 with 200% enhancement at 1.6 V and 800 °C. 

In addition, these metal or oxide nanoparticles grown in situ on porous cathodes produce an active metal-oxide interface that would function as a three-phase limit at the nanoscale. Anchored nanoparticles confined to porous scaffolds not only dramatically improve cathode performance, but also improve durability. 

  

 

 

Oxygen transfer at interfaces tested using electrical conductivity relaxation.(Image by Prof. XIE’s Group) 

  

Contact: 

Prof. XIE Kui 

Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter 

Chinese Academy of Sciences 

Email: kxie@fjirsm.ac.cn

 


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