Features of Molten Oxide Fuel Cells and Molten Oxide Membranes for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Oxygen Separation

Abstract

Recently, the molten oxide fuel cell (MOFC) and molten oxide membrane (MOM) concepts have been proposed.1-4 MOFCs are a new class of intermediate temperature fuel cells combined the advantages of both solid oxide fuel cells, SOFCs (air as a cathode gas) and molten carbonate fuel cells, MCFCs (a highly conductive molten electrolyte) and could be used for electric power generation. MOMs are a new type of ion transport membranes which demonstrate competitive oxygen permeability and highest oxygen selectivity and could be used for ultrahigh purity oxygen separation from air. However, before MOFC and MOM technologies can gain a share of the energy market, important issues have to be addressed. These issues include the development of innovative molten oxide materials with enhanced performance and establishment of oxygen ion transport mechanisms in these materials. Understanding the oxygen ion transport mechanisms in molten oxides is important for the discovery of next-generation electrochemical materials that can enable the operation of MOFCs and MOMs efficiently. In this paper, we highlight the progress made in developing this understanding as well as the advances made in searching innovative electrochemical materials for MOFCs and MOMs. References V.V. Belousov. Next-Generation Electrochemical Energy Materials for Intermediate Temperature Molten Oxide Fuel Cells and Ion Transport Molten Oxide Membranes, Acc. Chem. Res., 2017, 50, 273.V.V. Belousov, S.V. Fedorov. A Novel Molten Oxide Fuel Cell Concept, Fuel Cells, 2016, 16, 401.V.V. Belousov, S.V. Fedorov. A Highly Conductive Electrolyte for Molten Oxide Fuel Cells, Chem. Commun., 2017, 53, 565.V.V. Belousov, I.V. Kulbakin, S.V. Fedorov, A.A. Klimashin. Novel Molten Oxide Membrane for Ultrahigh Purity Oxygen Separation from Air, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2016, 8, 22324.