In situ Dispersed Nano-Au on Zr-Suboxides as Active Cathode for Direct CO2 Electroreduction in Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells

CO₂ electrochemical reduction in solid oxide electrolysis cells is an effective way to combine CO₂ conversion and renewable electricity storage. A Au layer is often used as a current collector, whereas Au nanoparticles are rarely used as a cathode because it is difficult to keep nanosized Au at high temperatures. Here we dispersed a Au layer into Au nanoparticles (down to 2 nm) at 800 °C by applying high voltages. A 75-fold decrease in the polarization resistance was observed, accompanied by a 38-fold improvement in the cell current density. Combining electronic microscopy, in situ near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and theoretical calculations, we found that the interface between the Au layer and the electrolyte (yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ)) was reconstructed into nano-Au/Zr-suboxide interfaces, which are active sites that show a much lower reaction activation energy than that of the Au/YSZ interface. The formation of Zr-suboxides promotes Au dispersion and Au nanoparticle stabilization due to the strong interaction between Au and Zr-suboxides.

Room temperature redox reaction by oxide ion migration at carbon/Gd-doped CeO2 heterointerface probed by an in situ hard x-ray photoemission and soft x-ray absorption spectroscopies

In situ hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (HX-PES) and soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy (SX-XAS) have been employed to investigate a local redox reaction at the carbon/Gd-doped CeO2 (GDC) thin film heterointerface under applied dc bias. In HX-PES, Ce3d and O1s core levels show a parallel chemical shift as large as 3.2 eV, corresponding to the redox window where ionic conductivity is predominant. The window width is equal to the energy gap between donor and acceptor levels of the GDC electrolyte. The Ce M-edge SX-XAS spectra also show a considerable increase of Ce3+ satellite peak intensity, corresponding to electrochemical reduction by oxide ion migration. In addition to the reversible redox reaction, two distinct phenomena by the electrochemical transport of oxide ions are observed as an irreversible reduction of the entire oxide film by O2 evolution from the GDC film to the gas phase, as well as a vigorous precipitation of oxygen gas at the bottom electrode to lift off the GDC film. These in situ spectroscopic observations describe well the electrochemical polarization behavior of a metal/GDC/metal capacitor-like two-electrode cell at room temperature.

New on-line methods for determining the deuterium/hydrogen composition of water and hydrocarbon gases using O(2-) ion-conducting solid electrolyte reactor

RATIONALE

The deuterium/hydrogen (D/H) composition of water and hydrocarbon gases is widely used in geological, environmental and petroleum studies. The aim of this work was to develop a simple reduction zirconium dioxide solid electrolyte reactor (SER) for water decomposition and new methods for measuring hydrogen isotope ratios in water and hydrocarbon gases.

METHODS

δ(2)H(VSMOW) values were determined using two new different on-line methods: solid electrolyte reactor isotope ratio mass spectrometry (SER-IRMS) for water and gas chromatography combustion solid electrolyte reactor isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-SER-IRMS) for hydrocarbon gases.

RESULTS

We have designed a solid electrolyte reactor based on oxygen ion-conducting zirconium dioxide stabilized by yttria (Y(2)O(3)). The reactor was used for catalytic electrochemical decomposition of water in a helium carrier gas. The solid electrolyte reactor has a small internal volume of 0.1 cm(3). It was operated at a temperature of ~950 °C. The total time of analysis for determining the hydrogen isotope ratio in water was 150 s. A typical water sample volume was about 0.2 μL (split ratio 500:1). The precision of the δ(2) H(VSMOW) measurements for water was better than or equal to 2.2‰ and that for hydrocarbon gases was within 0.5-3.0‰.

CONCLUSIONS

Fast, simple and accurate on-line methods (SER-IRMS and GC-C-SER-IRMS) were developed. The SER-IRMS method makes it possible to work with small water samples. Although the GC-C-SER-IRMS method was developed for hydrocarbons, it can also be used for other organic gases and their mixtures. The new solid electrolyte reactor for water decomposition is low cost and the ceramic tube is inexpensive.

Reduction and oxidation of oxide ion conductors with conductive atomic force microscopy

Local accumulation and dissipation of charges on the surface of oxide ion conductors resulting from electric potentials were observed with conductive atomic force microscopy (AFM). After a negative bias was applied at the tip, a sequence of surface potential maps appeared compatible with electron injection onto the electrolyte surface. Applying a positive bias, in contrast, generated a positive surface charge adjacent to the tip contact area. This observation is consistent with the formation of oxide ion vacancies on the oxide surface. In addition, oxide ion conductivity at a low temperature range (100-200 degrees C) was obtained, and the activation energy for diffusion in gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) was calculated as approximately 0.56 eV, implying that the majority of oxide ion vacancies diffuse on the surface rather than inside the bulk of the electrolyte.