Chemical impurities, interfaces elemental composition

This paper presents a brief review of the literature of nickel-based cermet electrodes for application in solid oxide cells at temperature from 500 to 1000 °C. The applications may be fuel cells or electrolyser cells. Variables that are used for controlling the properties of Ni-cermet-electrodes are (1) Ni/electrolyte volume ratio, (2) additives, e.g. alloying of the Ni or infiltration of the composite with nanoparticles of other elements or compounds, (3) the chemical composition of the electrolyte component and (4) porosity and particle size distribution, which is mainly affected by raw materials morphology, application methods and production parameters such as milling and sintering possibly followed by infiltration of nanosized electrocatalytic active particles. The various electrode properties are deeply related to these parameters, but also much related to the atomic scale structure of the Ni-electrolyte interface, which in turn is affected by segregation of electrolyte components and impurities as well as poisons in the gas phase. 

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