Descripción del proyecto
CLIMATE CHANGE AND INCREASING CONCERNS OVER ENERGY SECURITY, ARE ONE OF THE MAIN CHALLENGES CURRENTLY FACING EUROPE AND THE WORLD IN GENERAL, THIS IS DRIVING RESEARCH INTO ALTERNATIVE ROUTES OF ENERGY PRODUCTION, SUCH AS FUEL CELLS, SOLAR AND WIND CONVERSION, OF THESE, SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELLS (SOFCS) ARE AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO PRODUCE CLEANER ENERGY, WHILE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE THERE ARE STILL IMPORTANT ISSUES, RELATED TO DEGRADATION AND EFFICIENCY/TOLERANCE TO FUELS OTHER THAN HYDROGEN, THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED PRIOR MASS SCALE COMMERCIALISATION, TO UNDERSTAND DEGRADATION MECHANISMS AND FIND WAYS TO PREVENT THEM IS PERHAPS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TOPICS IN SOFC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, FOR THIS IT IS CRUCIAL TO BE ABLE TO CHARACTERISE AND MONITOR IN SITU THE 3D MICROSTRUCTURE AND OBTAIN INFORMATION ON THE SIZE, DISTRIBUTION AND CONNECTIVITY OF THE PORES AND CHANNELS NEAR THE TRIPLE PHASE BOUNDARY (TPB),HERE WE PROPOSE TO SET UP A DEDICATED PROGRAM FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MIXED (IONIC/ELECTRONIC) CONDUCTORS BASED ON THE PYROCHLORE STRUCTURE, THE STRATEGY HERE IS TO START WITH MATERIALS THAT (POTENTIALLY) DISPLAY EITHER GOOD ELECTRONIC OR IONIC CONDUCTIVITY AND INCREASE THEIR COUNTERPART PROPERTIES TO MAKE THEM GOOD MIXED CONDUCTORS, THIS WILL BE DONE BY INTRODUCING ELEMENTS THAT ARE AIR STABLE, BUT BECOME REDUCED TO CREATE OXYGEN VACANCIES OR GIVE ELECTRONIC CONDUCTIVITY UPON TREATMENT IN REDUCING ATMOSPHERES,THE MATERIALS ENGINEERING PART OF THE PROJECT WILL BE COMPLEMENTED WITH A PROGRAM FOR THE NON-DESTRUCTIVE IN SITU CHARACTERISATION OF SOFCS USING X-RAY COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY, THIS TECHNIQUE ALLOWS FOR THE NON-DESTRUCTIVE 3D (CHEMICAL) IMAGING OF THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF MATERIALS ON THE NANOMETRE SCALE, AS SUCH IT HAS THE ABILITY TO PROVIDE CRUCIAL INFORMATION ON THE CHANGES TO THE MICROSTRUCTURE AND TPB OF SOFCS NOT AVAILABLE WITH OTHER TECHNIQUES, MAKING IT A VERY POWERFUL TOOL FOR TESTING DEGRADATION MODELS AND MICROSTRUCTURAL DESIGNS, COMBINED THIS WILL ALLOW US TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE CURRENT SOFC BOTTLE NECKS REGARDING ELECTRODE DEGRADATION MECHANISMS, METAL PARTICLE COARSENING, REDOX/TEMPERATURE CYCLES, AS WELL AS 3D MICROSTRUCTURAL DESIGN,