Ni coarsening in Ni-yttria stabilized zirconia electrodes: Three-dimensional quantitative phase-field simulations supported by ex-situ ptychographic nano-tomography

Shenglan Yang, Jianbao Gao, Martina Trini, Salvatore De Angelis, Peter Stanley Jørgensen, Jacob R. Bowen, Lijun Zhang*, Ming Chen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

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Abstract

In-depth understanding of nickel (Ni) coarsening is helpful for improving the service life of Ni-yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrodes in solid oxide cells. Unfortunately, very few quantitative experimental/theoretical descriptions of Ni coarsening in Ni-YSZ electrodes during long-term operation exist. In this paper, quantitative modeling of Ni coarsening in Ni-YSZ electrodes was achieved through three-dimensional (3D) phase-field simulation supported by ex-situ ptychographic nano-tomography and input of reliable thermophysical parameters. A pragmatic procedure was proposed to refine and verify the materials parameters for the simulations. Moreover, the microstructures of the Ni-YSZ electrode in the pristine and annealed states obtained via the ex-situ ptychographic nano-tomography were used as the initial input and experimental validation for the phase-field simulations. After that, comprehensive comparison between the simulated and the experimental 3D microstructures was conducted, indicating the successful quantitative phase-field simulation of Ni coarsening in Ni-YSZ electrodes presented here. The success of this work is expected to pave the way for accurate prediction of the service life and even design of high-performance Ni-YSZ electrodes.
Original languageEnglish
Article number118708
JournalActa Materialia
Volume246
Number of pages13
ISSN1359-6454
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

This work was supported by the project “Efficient Power2Gas Combining SOEC and Biomass Gasification” (EUDP no. 64017–0011). Shenglan Yang acknowledges the China Scholarship Council (CSC No: 201906370120). Lijun Zhang acknowledges the financial support from the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province for Distinguished Young Scholars (Grant No. 2021JJ10062).

Keywords

  • Ni coarsening
  • Ni-YSZ electrode
  • Phase-field modeling
  • Ex-situ ptychographic nano-tomography

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