Solid oxide fuel cells are a type of fuel cell which have exceptional efficiency and the ability to run on fuels other than hydrogen. Work in the ESE group looks at improving the electrodes of these fuel cells by studying and improving the materials used in them and their structures. This includes developing new materials, studying the chemical and electrochemical characteristics of new and existing materials, developing new fabrication techniques to create novel microstructures and multiscale modelling to provide guidance on desired structures and materials properties and the impact of new materials and structures at the stack level.
Current projects
- Characterisation of gas-solid interactions in fuel cell electrode materials
- Investigating the properties and degradation of solid-solid interfaces in solid oxide fuel cells
- Design of an electrospun fibre-based structure for Ni/CGO SOFCs anode
Recent publications 2020 - to date
Cavallaro A, Wilson G, Kerherve G, Cali E, van den Bosh C, Boldrin P, Payne D, Skinner SJ, Aguadero A, 2021, Analysis of H2O-induced surface degradation in SrCoO3-derivatives and its impact on the redox kinetics, J. Mater. Chem. A.
Wehrle L, Wang Y, Boldrin P, Brandon NP, Deutschmann O, Banerjee A, 2021, Optimizing Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Performance to Re-evaluate Its Role in the Mobility Sector, ACS Environ. Au.
Chen J, Ouyang M, Boldrin P, Atkinson A, Brandon NP, 2020, Understanding the coarsening and degradation in a nanoscale nickel gadolinia-doped-ceria electrode for high-temperature applications, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol:12, ISSN:1944-8244, Pages:47564-47573
Ouyang M, Bertei A, Cooper SJ, Wu Y, Boldrin P, Liu X, Kishimoto M, Wang H, Naylor Marlow M, Chen J, Chen X, Xia Y, Wu B, Brandon NP, 2020, Model-guided design of a high performance and durability Ni nanofiber/ceria matrix solid oxide fuel cell electrode, Journal of Energy Chemistry, In Press.
Li T, Lu X, Rabuni MF, Wang B, Farandos NM, Kelsall GH, Brett DJL, Shearing PR, Ouyang M, Brandon NP, Li K, 2020, High-performance fuel cell designed for coking-resistance and efficient conversion of waste methane to electrical energy, Energy & Environmental Science, Vol: 13, Pages: 1879-1887
We wrote the book!
Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Lifetime and Reliability: Critical Challenges in Fuel Cells, 2017, 1st edn., Edited by N. P. Brandon, E. Ruiz-Trejo, and P. Boldrin. London.
This book presents in one volume the most recent research that aims at solving key issues for the deployment of SOFC at a commercial scale and for a wider range of applications. To achieve that, authors from different regions and backgrounds address topics such as electrolytes, contaminants, redox cycling, gas-tight seals, and electrode microstructure. Lifetime issues for particular elements of the fuel cells, like cathodes, interconnects, and fuel processors, are covered as well as new materials. They also examine the balance of SOFC plants, correlations between structure and electrochemical performance, methods for analysis of performance and degradation assessment, and computational and statistical approaches to quantify degradation.