Biomedical subjects

Shanwen Tao

Publications and source records attributed to Shanwen Tao.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Methane oxidation at redox stable fuel cell electrode La0.75Sr0.25Cr0.5Mn0.5O(3-delta).

Because of its widespread availability, natural gas is the most important fuel for early application of stationary fuel cells, and furthermore, methane containing biogases are one of the most promising renewable energy alternatives; thus, it is very important to be able to efficiently utilize methane in fuel cells. Typically, external steam reforming is applied to allow methane utilization in high temperature fuel cells; however, direct oxidation will provide a much better solution. Recently, we reported good electrochemical performance for an oxide anode La0.75Sr0.25Cr0.5Mn0.5O3 (LSCM) in low moisture (3% H2O) H2 and CH4 fuels without significant coking in CH4. Here, we investigate the catalytic activity of this oxide with respect to its ability to utilize methane. This oxide is found to exhibit fairly low reforming activity for both H2O and CO2 reforming but is active for methane oxidation. LSCM is found to be a full oxidation catalyst rather than a partial oxidation catalyst as CO2 production dominates CO production even in CH4-rich CH4/O2 mixtures. X-ray adsorption spectroscopy was utilized to confirm that Mn was the redox active species, clearly demonstrating that this material has the oxidation catalytic behavior that might be expected from a Mn perovskite and that the Cr ion is only present to ensure stability under fuel atmospheres.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Discovery and characterization of novel oxide anodes for solid oxide fuel cells.

The search for alternative anode materials for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) has been reviewed in the light of structure, stability, conductivity, chemical and thermal compatibility with electrolyte YSZ. In this review, we have presented the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional Ni-YSZ anode for SOFCs. The development of alternative anode for SOFCs with fluorite, rutile, tungsten bronze, pyrochlore, perovskite and spinel structures has been reviewed and discussed in detail. Among the reported materials systems, materials with perovskite structure are promising particularly where two ions with complimentary function are present on the B-site at high concentration. We have recently found a good redox stable anode (La(0.75)Sr(0.25))(1-x)Cr(0.5)Mn(0.5)O(3) (0 <or= x <or= 0.1) using this approach. These materials exhibit comparable performance to the traditional Ni-YSZ anode. Therefore, we can use nickel-free redox stable anode for SOFCs. With further optimisation of the composition and microstructure, the performance of these materials may be further improved and hopefully replace the traditional Ni-YSZ anode in the future.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

A redox-stable efficient anode for solid-oxide fuel cells.

Solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) promise high efficiencies in a range of fuels. Unlike lower temperature variants, carbon monoxide is a fuel rather than a poison, and so hydrocarbon fuels can be used directly, through internal reforming or even direct oxidation. This provides a key entry strategy for fuel-cell technology into the current energy economy. Present development is mainly based on the yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte. The most commonly used anode materials are Ni/YSZ cermets, which display excellent catalytic properties for fuel oxidation and good current collection, but do exhibit disadvantages, such as low tolerance to sulphur and carbon deposition when using hydrocarbon fuels, and poor redox cycling causing volume instability. Here, we report a nickel-free SOFC anode, La0.75Sr0.25Cr0.5Mn0.5O3, with comparable electrochemical performance to Ni/YSZ cermets. The electrode polarization resistance approaches 0.2 Omega cm2 at 900 degrees C in 97% H2/3% H2O. Very good performance is achieved for methane oxidation without using excess steam. The anode is stable in both fuel and air conditions, and shows stable electrode performance in methane. Thus both redox stability and operation in low steam hydrocarbons have been demonstrated, overcoming two of the major limitations of the current generation of nickel zirconia cermet SOFC anodes.

Journal Article↗