Self-construction of Efficient Interfaces Ensures High-performance Direct Ammonia Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cells.

Direct ammonia protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are highly efficient energy conversion devices since ammonia as a carbon-neutral hydrogen-rich carrier shows great potential for storage and long-distance transportation when compared with hydrogen fuel. However, traditional Ni-based anodes readily suffer from severe structural destruction and dramatic deactivation after long-time exposure to ammonia. Here we report a Sr 2 Fe 1.35 Mo 0.45 Cu 0.2 O 6-δ (SFMC) anode catalytic layer (ACL) painted onto a Ni-BaZr 0.1 Ce 0.7 Y 0.1 Yb 0.1 O 3-δ (BZCYYb) anode with enhanced catalytic activity and durability towards the direct utilization of ammonia. A tubular Ni-BZCYYb anode-supported cells with the SFMC ACL show excellent peak power densities of 1.77 W cm -2 in H 2 and 1.02 W cm -2 in NH 3 at 650 °C. A relatively stable operation of the cells is obtained at 650 °C for 200 h in ammonia fuel. Such achieved improvements in the activity and durability are attributed to the self-constructed interfaces with the phases of NiCu or/and NiFe for efficient NH 3 decomposition, resulting in a strong NH 3 adsorption strength of the SFMC, as confirmed by NH 3 thermal conversion and NH 3 -temperature programmed desorption. This research offers a valuable strategy of applying an internal catalytic layer for highly active and durable ammonia PCFCs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.