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- All Subjects: chemical engineering
- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
Description
Siloxane, a common contaminant present in biogas, is known for adverse effects on cogeneration prime movers. In this work, the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) nickel-yttria stabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ) anode degradation due to poisoning by siloxane was investigated. For this purpose, experiments with different fuels, different deposition substrate materials, different structure of contamination siloxane (cyclic and linear) and entire failure process are conducted in this study. The electrochemical and material characterization methods, such as Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), Scanning Electron Microscope- Wavelength Dispersive Spectrometers (SEM-WDS), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy, were applied to investigate the anode degradation behavior. The electrochemical characterization results show that the SOFCs performance degradation caused by siloxane contamination is irreversible under bio-syngas condition. An equivalent circuit model (ECM) is developed based on electrochemical characterization results. Based on the Distribution of Relaxation Time (DRT) method, the detailed microstructure parameter changes are evaluated corresponding to the ECM results. The results contradict the previously proposed siloxane degradation mechanism as the experimental results show that water can inhibit anode deactivation. For anode materials, Ni is considered a major factor in siloxane deposition reactions in Ni-YSZ anode. Based on the results of XPS, XRD and WDS analysis, an initial layer of carbon deposition develops and is considered a critical process for the siloxane deposition reaction. Based on the experimental results in this study and previous studies about siloxane deposition on metal oxides, the proposed siloxane deposition process occurs in stages consisting of the siloxane adsorption, initial carbon deposition, siloxane polymerization and amorphous silicon dioxide deposition.
ContributorsTian, Jiashen (Author) / Milcarek, Ryan J. (Thesis advisor) / Muhich, Christopher (Committee member) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Phelan, Patrick (Committee member) / Nian, Qiong (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Lithium-ion and lithium-metal batteries are deemed to be the choice of energy storage media for the future. However, they are not entirely safe and their performance in terms of cycle life and charging rates is sub-optimal. A majority of these issues arise from the currently used flammable polyolefinic separators and carbonate solvent based electrolytes. This work utilizes in-house developed and specific property tuned electrode-coated inorganic separators in combination with a fire-proof electrolyte to resolve the above stated concerns.Firstly, to improve the safety of the lithium-ion cell with a commercial polypropylene separator a thermally stable in-house developed electrode coated quartz silica separator is utilized. The silica separator due to its better electrolyte wettability, electrolyte uptake and lower resistance also offers better capacity retention (~ 15 %) at high rates of discharge. Subsequently, research on developing a completely safe lithium-ion battery was conducted by replacing the traditional carbonate solvent based electrolyte with a fire-proof lithium bis-fluoro sulphonyl-imide salt/tri-methyl phosphate solvent electrolyte. However, this electrolyte has a high viscosity and low separator wetting rate.
A microporous in house synthesized silicalite electrode-coated separator due to its high surface energy functionalizes the viscous fire-proof electrolyte and together they are tested in a full-cell. The intra-particle pores of the silicalite separator result in a thinner and more robust solid electrolyte interface on graphite. This results in about 20 % higher capacity retention during long term cycling when compared to the polypropylene separator used in the same full-cell.
To enable stable and fast charging lithium-metal batteries free from dendrite propagation related failure, plate shaped γ-alumina and silicalite electrode-coated separators with high tortuosity are developed and used in a lithium-metal full-cell battery, with the former separator having no intra-particle pores and the latter having them. The γ-alumina separators show improvements in dendrite propagation prevention up to 3 C-rate of charge/discharge but a loss in active lithium is seen beyond the 75th cycle. However, microporous plate-shaped silicalite separators did not show any loss in active lithium even at 3 C-rate for 100 cycles due to the homogenized lithium-ion flux at the anode, while also preventing dendrite propagation.
ContributorsRafiz, Kishen (Author) / Lin, Jerry Y.S (Thesis advisor) / Muhich, Christopher (Committee member) / Kannan, Arunachala (Committee member) / Deng, Shuguang (Committee member) / Green, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021