Solubility of NiO as Cathode Materials for MCFC in Alkali

Carbonate Melts

 

Q. Yu^*, K. Kihara, Y. Hisamitsu, T. Kudo, M. Mohamedi, T. Itoh, M. Umeda, I. Uchida,^# and J. R. Selman^#

 

Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 07 Aramaki-Aoba, Aoba-Ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan

^#New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University, 04 Aramaki-Aoba, Aoba-Ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan

 

 

Dissolution of nickel oxide (NiO) cathode in the molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) electrolyte has been identified as one as of the major technical obstacle facing the fuel cell commercialization. Although, new materials with interesting features, such as LiCoO₂, LiFeO₂ and nickel based alloys have been tested, one of the most promising approaches to solve this issue is modification of the carbonate melt composition. In this paper, results on the solubility measurements of the in situ formed NiO in various alkali (Li-Na-K) carbonate melts are presented together with the electrochemical studies on oxygen reduction.