Publication date: 21st July 2025
Solid Oxide Cells (SOC) offer a promising route for CO₂ conversion and energy storage in a net-zero future, where carbon-neutral fuels are urgently needed to mitigate climate change. High-temperature CO₂ electrolysis is particularly attractive as it allows for carbon-neutral production of synthetic fuels, but cathode deactivation and coking remain major challenges.
Exsolution is widely regarded as a beneficial phenomenon in heterogeneous (electro)catalysis, often linked to enhanced activity and coking resistance. However, in the context of high-temperature CO₂ electrolysis, we reveal that exsolved metallic iron nanoparticles in fact lead to a decrease in cell performance. Using well-defined thin film electrodes based on three ferrite perovskites—La0.6Ca0.4FeO3‒δ, Nd0.6Ca0.4FeO3‒δ, and Pr0.6Ca0.4FeO3‒δ —we combine in-situ near ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to track changes in surface chemistry and performance under CO₂ electrolysis conditions simultaneously. Our measurement strategy makes use of precisely controlling the chemical oxygen potential in the model electrodes via the applied voltage. With this approach it was possible to explore the kinetics of the same electrode first without any exsolutions, then decorated with exsolved metallic iron particles, and finally again with re-oxidised exsolutions.
Our results demonstrate a clear correlation between Fe exsolution and a decrease in CO₂ splitting activity. Notably, this behavior contrasts with the beneficial effects of exsolution observed in H₂O electrolysis. Our findings challenge the general assumption that metal exsolution is universally advantageous and emphasize the need for mechanism-specific catalyst design.
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