Controlled Ni exsolution as a optimization strategy for high-performance perovskite SOFC anodes

Lucía Sánchez de Bustamante Vila^a, Patricia Rivas Rojas^a, Micah Soriano^b, Kimia Jafari^b, Ainara Aguadero^a, Dragos Neagu^b, José Antonio Alonso^a

^aInstituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, C.S.I.C., Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain

^bDepartment of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Proceedings of MATSUS Fall 2025 Conference (MATSUSFall25)

E1 Exsolution for sustainable energy materials - #ExSusMat

València, Spain, 2025 October 20th - 24th

Organizers: Alfonso Carrillo, Dragos Neagu and Jose Manuel Serra

Poster, Lucía Sánchez de Bustamante Vila, 418
Publication date: 21st July 2025

As climate change and pollution worsen, the need for clean, efficient energy sources is increasingly urgent. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) offer a compelling solution by directly converting chemical energy from fuels into electricity, avoiding combustion. This electrochemical process leads to higher efficiency compared to conventional thermal engines. Their ability to use various fuels with low emissions makes SOFCs a key technology for advancing sustainable energy solutions.

Solid oxide fuel cells are devices that enable the conversion of chemical energy from fuels such as hydrogen, methanol, natural gas, or others into electrical energy in an environmentally friendly way^[1]. However, one of the main drawbacks of these devices is that they operate at relatively high temperatures (between 600 and 850°C)^[2]. Although such temperatures enhance electrochemical performance, they also pose durability and materials challenges, and the energy required to sustain them lowers the system’s overall efficiency. To remedy this, it is necessary to develop electrode materials that allow this operating temperature to be reduced while obtaining as much energy as possible.

In this context, SrMoO₃ perovskites are conductive, stable SOFC anodes with redox durability, fuel tolerance, and enhanced performance when doped, due to the formation of oxygen vacancies. In this work, the Mo site is co-doped with Ni to increase its electrocatalytic efficiency. The presence of Ni enables metallic nanoparticles to exsolve under reducing conditions—a strategy known to enhance the catalytic activity, redox stability, and durability of anodes in solid oxide fuel cells^[2,3]. In this study, the exsolution process is carefully controlled to achieve a more homogeneous nanoparticle size distribution and a higher surface population, both of which contribute to improved anode performance. Preliminary data from a previously tested Ni-exsolved single cell have demonstrated promising behaviour, achieving a power density as high as 829 mW/cm² under H₂ flow and using LSGM as electrolyte. This performance is already comparable to that of conventional unexsolved systems, typically reporting values between 690 and 890 mW/cm²^[4,5], and highlights the potential for further optimising the exsolved Ni-containing anode to achieve even higher efficiency.

References:

[1] M. Singh, D. Zappa, E. Comini, “Solid oxide fuel cell: Decade of progress, future perspectives and challenges” Int J Hydrogen Energy 2021, 46, 27643–27674.

[2] P. B. Managutti, S. Tymen, X. Liu, O. Hernandez, C. Prestipino, A. Le Gal La Salle, S. Paul, L. Jalowiecki-Duhamel, V. Dorcet, A. Billard, P. Briois, M. Bahout, “Exsolution of Ni Nanoparticles from A-Site-Deficient Layered Double Perovskites for Dry Reforming of Methane and as an Anode Material for a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell” ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2021, 13, 35719–35728

[3] D. Neagu, J. T. S. Irvine, J. Wang, B. Yildiz, A. K. Opitz, J. Fleig, Y. Wang, J. Liu, L. Shen, F. Ciucci, B. A. Rosen, Y. Xiao, K. Xie, G. Yang, Z. Shao, Y. Zhang, J. Reinke, T. A. Schmauss, S. A. Barnett, R. Maring, V. Kyriakou, U. Mushtaq, M. N. Tsampas, Y. Kim, R. O’Hayre, A. J. Carrillo, T. Ruh, L. Lindenthal, F. Schrenk, C. Rameshan, E. I. Papaioannou, K. Kousi, I. S. Metcalfe, X. Xu, G. Liu, “Roadmap on exsolution for energy applications” JPhys Energy 2023, 5

[4] V. Cascos, M. T. Fernández-Díaz, J. A. Alonso, “Al-Doped SrMoO3 Perovskites as Promising Anode Materials in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells” Materials 2022, 15, 3819–3819.

[5] V. Cascos, J. A. Alonso, M. T. Fernández-Díaz, “Novel Mg-doped SrMoO3 Perovskites designed as anode materials for solid oxide fuel cells” Materials 2016, 9, 588.

Acknowledgements:

This work has been supported by grant PRE2022-103236 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by European Union NextGenerationEU as well as the «Generación de Conocimiento» project (PID2021-122477OB-I00) funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033

nanoGe is a prestigious brand of successful science conferences that are developed along the year in different areas of the world since 2009. Our worldwide conferences cover cutting-edge materials topics like perovskite solar cells, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, solar fuel conversion, surface science, catalysis and two-dimensional materials, among many others.

MATSUS

Previously nanoGe Spring Meeting (NSM) and nanoGe Fall Meeting (NFM), MATSUS is a multiple symposia conference focused on a broad set of topics of advanced materials preparation, their fundamental properties, and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy, photovoltaics, lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis, charge carriers dynamics, microscopy and spectroscopy semiconductors fundamentals, etc.

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.

Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics

The main topics of the Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP) are discussed every year in Asia-Pacific for gathering the recent advances in the fields of material preparation, modeling and fabrication of perovskite and hybrid and organic materials. Photovoltaic devices are analyzed from fundamental physics and materials properties to a broad set of applications. The conference also covers the developments of perovskite optoelectronics, including light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.

International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics

The International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO) is the best place to hear the latest developments in perovskite solar cells as well as on recent advances in the fields of perovskite light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.