A new anode material for solid oxide electrolyser: The neodymium nickelate Nd₂NiO_4+δ

Florent Chauveau (1) , Julie Mougin (2) , Jean-Marc. Bassat (1) , Fabrice Mauvy (1) , Jean-Claude Grenier (1)

1 ICMCB - Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux
2 LITEN - Laboratoire d'Innovation pour les Technologies des Energies Nouvelles et les nanomatériaux

Neodymium nickelate, with composition Nd₂NiO_4+δ is integrated as oxygen electrode in a solid oxide electrolyte supported cell made of a TZ3Y electrolyte and a Ni-CGO hydrogen electrode. This cell is tested in both fuel cell (SOFC) and electrolysis (SOEC) mode and the reversible operation is proven, ASR values being slightly lower in electrolysis mode. Performances in SOEC mode are compared with a commercial cell based on the same electrolyte and cathode, but with lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM) as anode. For a voltage of 1.3 V, current densities of 0.40, 0.64 and 0.87 A cm⁻² are measured at 750, 800 and 850 °C, respectively; they are much higher than the ones measured in the same conditions for the LSM-containing cell. Indeed, for a voltage of 1.3 V, current densities are respectively 1.7, 3 and 4.2 times higher for the Nd₂NiO_4+δ cell than for the LSM one at 850, 800 and 750 °C, respectively. Consequently, Nd₂NiO_4+δ can be considered as a good candidate for operating below 800 °C as oxygen electrode for high temperature steam electrolysis.

Mots clés: Solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC); High temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE); Anode material; Oxygen electrode; Nickelate oxide; Impedance spectroscopy

Domaines: Matériaux

Florent Chauveau, Julie Mougin, Jean-Marc. Bassat, Fabrice Mauvy, Jean-Claude Grenier. A new anode material for solid oxide electrolyser: The neodymium nickelate Nd₂NiO_4+δ. Journal of Power Sources, 2010, 195 (3), pp.744-749. ⟨10.1016/j.jpowsour.2009.08.003⟩. ⟨hal-00442800⟩