MOSCOW, 30 Aug – . New substances that can be used to produce electricity in fuel cells were proposed by scientists from the Samara Polytechnic University (SamGTU). The new compounds could improve the operating conditions of these devices, as well as make them more cost-effective, they say. The results of the study are published in SolidStateIonics.
Fuel cells (FCs) are generating devices that convert fuel energy (without burning it) into electricity, with partial heat release. They do not have rubbing/wearing surfaces, and the efficiency of fuel cells is higher than that of installations used in traditional energy.
The most promising today, according to experts, is the use of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). Since in such a modification of devices it is possible to use fuels of different nature and their reaction with oxygen (without the use of expensive catalysts), and the resulting water becomes a processing product.
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«To carry out a chemical reaction in a fuel cell, it is necessary that between the cathode and the anode there is a layer of material that conducts oxygen ions — a solid electrolyte,» said Natalia Kabanova, senior researcher at the International Research Center for Theoretical Materials Science (MNICTM) SamGTU.< /p>
Today, SOFCs use electrolytes based on zirconium oxides, which are capable of «transporting» oxygen ions inside themselves only at very high temperatures, which drastically worsens the profitability of SOFCs, the expert added.
Scientists from the Samara State Technical University (SamSTU) have proposed new lanthanide-containing compounds with high oxygen-ion conductivity, which will improve the technology of SOFC production and make them more affordable.
The developers used high-performance computer screening based on geometric and topological analysis of crystal structures to isolate the most suitable components for SOFC. They studied substances containing lanthanide elements and identified 270 of the most promising oxygen-ion conductors, among which 46 had an internal structure that differed from currently known SOFC compounds.
«In order to synthesize a new type of oxygen-ion conductor, one can either sort through all possible variants of substances, or, using modern methods of computer simulation of physical characteristics, predict a number of candidates for synthesis,» Kabanova said.
According to her, Back in 2006, the scientific center of the Samara Polytechnic University developed a method that has no analogues in the world to search for crystal structures, inside which there are channels for moving ions. .jpg» media-type=»ar16x9″ data-crop-ratio=»0.5625″ data-crop-width=»600″ data-crop-height=»338″ data-source-sid=»not_rian_photo» class=»» />
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«The technique allows us to carry out calculations of large databases and in a relatively short time to determine the most promising substances for ionic conductivity,» Kabanova added.
She explained that additional theoretical calculations using quantum mechanical modeling methods make it possible to refine a number of energy characteristics and obtain a more accurate prediction of properties for substances. Several lithium-, sodium-, potassium-ion conductors predicted at the Research Center using this technique have already been synthesized to create new types of materials in electrochemical devices.
According to scientists, they plan to begin the synthesis of new oxygen-ion conductors, continue work on the study of electrochemical characteristics, as well as the prediction of oxygen-ion conductors among other groups of compounds. //ria.ru/20230802/nauka-1887394281.html» data->
The work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 22-23-00355).