Multi-Contaminant Getter for Trace Airborne Contaminant Capture in Elevated Temperature Electrochemical Systems

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Electrode poisoning in high temperature electrochemical systems from trace levels of airborne contaminants remains a critical issue, contributing to long-term irreversible performance degradation. The intrinsic and extrinsic presence of gas phase Cr, Si, B, and SOx, species in air have been reported to form detrimental secondary compounds and microstructural changes at the electrode/electrolyte interface, consuming electrochemically active sites. Herein, a novel contaminant capture method is reported that uses low-cost getter materials based on alkaline-earth metals. The getters, in benchtop transpiration tests, demonstrated the desired ability to form thermodynamically stable reaction products and reducing the gaseous contaminant partial pressures by several orders of magnitude. Consumption of the contaminants in the getter preserves the performance of solid oxide cells. The presented results have demonstrated the feasibility of the use of getter materials under operating conditions typical to elevated-temperature electrochemical systems.