Enhancement in Three-Phase Boundary of SOFC Electrodes by an Ion Impregnation Method: A Modeling Comparison

Abstract

A theoretical model is proposed to estimate the length of three-phase boundary (TPB) of ion-impregnation-derived solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) electrodes, which have experimentally shown considerable advantages in performance when compared with standard composite electrodes such as Ni–yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and –YSZ. The electrode is modeled as a sphere-packed framework whose surface is coated with second-phase nanoscale particles. Compared with the composite electrodes, the impregnated electrodes show great enhancement in TPB length, theoretically indicating the feasibility of achieving highly electrochemically active electrodes by means of ion impregnation.