The mechanical failure of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) components may cause cracks with consequences such as gas leakage, structure instability and reduction of cell lifetime. A comprehensive 3D model of the thermal stresses of an anode-supported planar SOFC is presented in this work. The main objective of this paper is to get an interconnect optimized design by evaluating the thermal stresses of an anode-supported SOFC for different designs, which would be a new criterion for interconnect design. The model incorporates the momentum, mass, heat, ion and electron transport, as well as steady-state mechanics. Heat from methane steam reforming and water-gas shift reaction were considered in our model. The results examine the relationship between the interconnect structures and thermal stresses in SOFC at certain mechanical properties. A wider interconnect of the anode side lowers the stress obviously. The simulation results also indicate that thermal stress of coflow design is smaller than that of counterflow, corresponding to the temperature distribution. This study shows that it is possible to design interconnects for an optimum thermal stress performance of the cell.

AbstractThe processing of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) often involves co-sintering of multi-layered stacks. In the case of SOFCs incorporating Ni-based anodes, hydrogen reduction of the anode usually takes place during the first service cycle of operation or conditioning. Initial reduction causes changes in the chemistry, microstructure and properties of the Ni-based anode material, which in turn induce mechanical stresses in the cell. In this study the elastic moduli, biaxial strength and fracture toughness of unreduced (NiO-YSZ) and reduced (Ni-YSZ) anode were determined as functions of porosity. Elastic properties were determined by impulse excitation at ambient temperature. Biaxial strength and fracture toughness were determined at ambient temperature by the ring-on-ring and double torsion test methods, respectively. It was found that the mechanical properties of unreduced and reduced Ni-based anode materials depend strongly on porosity. Property–porosity trends were found to be in good agreement with prediction of the minimum solid area model. Results presented in this study show that the elastic moduli and biaxial strength of the Ni-based anode material decreases after reduction in hydrogen while fracture toughness increases after reduction due to formation of ductile Ni-metal phase.]]>

Direct utilization of hydrocarbon and other renewable fuels is one of the most important issues concerning solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Mixed ionic and electronic conductors (MIECs) have been explored as anode materials for direct hydrocarbon-type SOFCs. However, electrical conductivity of the most often reported MIEC oxide electrodes is still not satisfactory. As a result, mixed-conducting oxides with high electrical conductivity and catalytic activity are attracting considerable interest as an alternative anode material for noncoke depositing anodes. In this study, we examine the oxide composite Ce(Mn,Fe)O(2)-La(Sr)Fe(Mn)O(3) for use as an oxide anode in direct hydrocarbon-type SOFCs. High performance was demonstrated for this composite oxide anode in direct hydrocarbon-type SOFCs, showing high maximum power density of approximately 1 W cm(-2) at 1073 K when propane and butane were used as fuel. The high power density of the cell results from the high electrical conductivity of the composite oxide in hydrocarbon and the high surface activity in relation to direct hydrocarbon oxidation.

The use of oxide fuel cells and other solid-state ionic devices in energy applications is limited by their requirement for elevated operating temperatures, typically above 800°C (ref. 1). Thin-film membranes allow low-temperature operation by reducing the ohmic resistance of the electrolytes. However, although proof-of-concept thin-film devices have been demonstrated, scaling up remains a significant challenge because large-area membranes less than ~ 100 nm thick are susceptible to mechanical failure. Here, we report that nanoscale yttria-stabilized zirconia membranes with lateral dimensions on the scale of millimetres or centimetres can be made thermomechanically stable by depositing metallic grids on them to function as mechanical supports. We combine such a membrane with a nanostructured dense oxide cathode to make a thin-film solid-oxide fuel cell that can achieve a power density of 155 mW cm⁻² at 510 °C. We also report a total power output of more than 20 mW from a single fuel-cell chip. Our large-area membranes could also be relevant to electrochemical energy applications such as gas separation, hydrogen production and permeation membranes.

Combining equilibrium and nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations with accurate carbon potentials, we determine the thermal conductivity lambda of carbon nanotubes and its dependence on temperature. Our results suggest an unusually high value, lambda approximately 6600 W/m K, for an isolated (10,10) nanotube at room temperature, comparable to the thermal conductivity of a hypothetical isolated graphene monolayer or diamond. Our results suggest that these high values of lambda are associated with the large phonon mean free paths in these systems; substantially lower values are predicted and observed for the basal plane of bulk graphite.

-3 to 4.2 W·m-3; meanwhile, during the chronoamperometric experiment with a charge-discharge time of 60-60 min, the cumulative charge of the composite bioanode was 18,865.8 C·m-2, which is much higher than that of the NCNT/S anode (3625.3 C·m-2). High-throughput sequencing technology revealed that the ternary composite bioanode had good biocompatibility and high diversity. Therefore, this synthesized ternary composite is a promising candidate as a capacitive and biocompatible anode material in MFC.]]>

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) harness the metabolism of microorganisms, converting chemical energy into electrical energy. Anode performance is an important factor limiting the power density of MFCs for practical application. Improving the anode design is thus important for enhancing the MFC performance, but only a little development has been reported. Here, we describe a biocompatible, highly conductive, two-scale porous anode fabricated from a carbon nanotube-textile (CNT-textile) composite for high-performance MFCs. The macroscale porous structure of the intertwined CNT-textile fibers creates an open 3D space for efficient substrate transport and internal colonization by a diverse microflora, resulting in a 10-fold-larger anolyte-biofilm-anode interfacial area than the projective surface area of the CNT-textile. The conformally coated microscale porous CNT layer displays strong interaction with the microbial biofilm, facilitating electron transfer from exoelectrogens to the CNT-textile anode. An MFC equipped with a CNT-textile anode has a 10-fold-lower charge-transfer resistance and achieves considerably better performance than one equipped with a traditional carbon cloth anode: the maximum current density is 157% higher, the maximum power density is 68% higher, and the energy recovery is 141% greater.

The extraordinary mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes have prompted intense research into a wide range of applications in structural materials, electronics, chemical processing and energy management. Attempts have been made to develop advanced engineering materials with improved or novel properties through the incorporation of carbon nanotubes in selected matrices (polymers, metals and ceramics). But the use of carbon nanotubes to reinforce ceramic composites has not been very successful; for example, in alumina-based systems only a 24% increase in toughness has been obtained so far. Here we demonstrate their potential use in reinforcing nanocrystalline ceramics. We have fabricated fully dense nanocomposites of single-wall carbon nanotubes with nanocrystalline alumina (Al2O3) matrix at sintering temperatures as low as 1,150 degrees C by spark-plasma sintering. A fracture toughness of 9.7 MPa m 1/2, nearly three times that of pure nanocrystalline alumina, can be achieved.

This paper demonstrates the viability of in-situ transmission electron microscopy for studying the deformation mechanisms of polymer nano-composites. In-situ straining studies are performed on carbon multiwalled nanotube (MWNT)-polystyrene composite films. The experiments show that load transfer across the nanotube-polystyrene interface is operative well into the plastic deformation regime of the composite film. The MWNTs are observed to bridge cracks propagating through the polystyrene, providing closure stresses across the crack wake. Although some MWNTs fracture by either a sword-in-sheath mechanism or transverse shear fracture, most of the MWNTs eventually debond at the MWNT-polymer interface and subsequently pull out of the matrix.

A novel amperometric biosensor utilizing carbon nanotube (CNT)-Ni nanoparticle hybrid arrays for ethanol detection has been developed. The sensor was fabricated by e-beam deposition of thin Ni film on arrayed multi-walled carbon nanotubes grown directly on Si substrate. As the Ni film thickness is ≤ 200nm, high-resolution SEM and TEM images showed well-dispersed and strongly adhered crystalline Ni nanoparticles uniformly populated on the sidewalls of CNTs, and the sensitivity of the resultant CNT-Ni sensor generally increased with increasing nickel thickness. The best sensor showed a wide response range of 50-600 μM, a response time of <10s, and a sensitivity of 14.81 μA μM(-1)cm(-2) which is ∼380% higher in comparison with the nanostructured Ni/Pt/Ti electrodes.

A useful strategy has been developed to fabricate carbon-nanotube-nickel (CNT-Ni) nanocomposites through atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Ni and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of functionalized CNTs. Various techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), were used to characterize the morphology and the structure of as-prepared samples. It was confirmed that the products possess uniform Ni nanoparticles that are constructed by finely controlled deposition of Ni onto oxygen or bromine functionalized CNT surface. Electrochemical studies indicate that the CNT-Ni nanocomposites exhibit high electrocatalytic activity for glucose oxidation in alkaline solutions, which enables the products to be used in enzyme-free electrochemical sensors for glucose determination. It was demonstrated that the CNT-Ni nanocomposite-based glucose biosensor offers a variety of merits, such as a wide linear response window for glucose concentrations of 5 μM-2 mM, short response time (3 s), a low detection limit (2 μM), high sensitivity (1384.1 μA mM(-1) cm(-2)), and good selectivity and repeatability.

Several first-principles surface and bulk electronic structure calculations relating to the nucleation and growth of single-wall carbon nanotubes are described. Density-functional theory in various forms is used throughout. In the surface-related calculations, a 38-atom Ni cluster and several low-index Ni surfaces are investigated using pseudopotentials and plane-wave expansions. The energetic ordering of the sites for C atom adsorption is found to be the same, with the Ni(100) facet favored. The bulk diffusion coefficient of C in Ni as a function of cluster size and temperature is calculated from various molecular dynamics approaches. In another group of bulk-related calculations, Gaussian orbital basis sets are used to study a cluster or "flake" containing 14 C atoms. The flake is a segment of three hexagons from an "unrolled" carbon nanotube, with an armchair termination. The binding energies of C, Ni, Co, Fe, Cu, and Au atoms to it were calculated in an effort to gain insight into the mechanism for the high catalytic activity of Ni, Co, and Fe and the lack of it in Cu and Au. The binding energies of Cu and Au are about 1 eV less than those of the three catalytic elements. Similar methods are used to study the initial stages of nanotube growth within the context of classical nucleation theory. Finally, issues relating to the establishment of a fundamental catalytic mechanism are addressed.

To investigate the amount of systemic oxidative stress-related DNA damage and serum total antioxidant status of patients with normal-tension glaucoma compared with healthy controls.

Fuel cells will undoubtedly find widespread use in this new millennium in the conversion of chemical to electrical energy, as they offer very high efficiencies and have unique scalability in electricity-generation applications. The solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is one of the most exciting of these energy technologies; it is an all-ceramic device that operates at temperatures in the range 500-1,000 degrees C. The SOFC offers certain advantages over lower temperature fuel cells, notably its ability to use carbon monoxide as a fuel rather than being poisoned by it, and the availability of high-grade exhaust heat for combined heat and power, or combined cycle gas-turbine applications. Although cost is clearly the most important barrier to widespread SOFC implementation, perhaps the most important technical barriers currently being addressed relate to the electrodes, particularly the fuel electrode or anode. In terms of mitigating global warming, the ability of the SOFC to use commonly available fuels at high efficiency, promises an effective and early reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, and hence is one of the lead new technologies for improving the environment. Here, we discuss recent developments of SOFC fuel electrodes that will enable the better use of readily available fuels.

Pure bending of single-walled carbon nanotubes between (5,5) and (50,50) is studied using molecular dynamics based on the reactive bond order potential. Unlike smaller nanotubes, bending of (15,15) and larger ones exhibits an intermediate deformation in the transition between the buckled and fully kinked configurations. This transient bending regime is characterized by a gradual and controllable flattening of the nanotube cross section at the buckling site. Unbending of a kinked nanotube bypasses the transient bending regime, exhibiting a hysteresis due to van der Waals attraction between the tube walls at the kinked site.