Microstructural Modeling of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anodes

The design and manufacture of electrodes for use in SOFCs is one of the greatest challenges to the commercialization of fuel cell technology. Composite SOFC electrodes mix three phases (ion conducting, electron conducting, pore phase) in order to improve performance by increasing the amount of triple-phase boundaries (TBPs)—meetings of the ionic and electronic pathways with the percolating gas network—where the redox reaction takes place. The electrode microstructure is critical since electrode performance is directly dependent on the abundance of TPBs and the transport properties of the three phases.A fundamental understanding of the quantitative effects of microstructure on electrode performance is required. However, electrode models commonly neglect heterogeneity and assume effective values for key parameters. In contrast, we present a computational framework that can readily be linked to experimental studies of microstructure, thereby providing crucial insight into the conditions and competing process...