Evaluation of ((La0.60Sr0.40)0.95Co0.20Fe0.80O3-x)-Ag Composite Anode for Direct Ammonia Solid Oxide Fuel Cells and Effect of Pd Impregnation on the Electrochemical Performance

Ammonia produced using renewable hydrogen is being viewed as a promising media for the export of energy from locations rich in renewable energy sources. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are efficient devices for converting such exported ammonia back into electricity at the point of use; however, investigations on materials and operating regimes for direct ammonia fuelled SOFCs are limited. In this work, we evaluated the direct ammonia SOFC performance with a Silver-Lanthanum Strontium Cobalt Ferrite (Ag-LSCF) composite anode and a novel Palladium (Pd) nanoparticle decorated Silver-Lanthanum Strontium Cobalt Ferrite (Pd-Ag-LSCF) composite anode in the temperature range of 500 °C to 800 °C. It is hypothesised that palladium nanoparticles in the anode provide hydrogen dissolution and shift the ammonia decomposition reaction towards the right. The cell performance was evaluated with both hydrogen and ammonia as fuels and a clear-cut improvement in the performance was observed with the addition of Pd for both the fuels. The results showed performance enhancements of 20% and 43% with hydrogen and ammonia fuels, respectively, from the addition of Pd to the Ag-LSCF anode. Open-circuit voltage (OCV) values of the cells with hydrogen and ammonia fuels recorded over the temperature range of 500 °C to 800 °C indicated the possibility of direct electro-oxidation of ammonia in SOFCs.