Nickel Electrodeposition on Silver for the Development of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anodes and Catalytic Membranes

Abstract

Nickel was electrodeposited on porous Ag/GDC (silver/Ce0.9Gd0.1O2-x) scaffolds and dense Ag/GDC composites for the fabrication of SOFC electrodes and catalytic membranes respectively. To control the distribution and amount of nickel deposition on the Ag/GDC surfaces; first, a systematic cyclic voltammetry study of nickel electrodeposition from a Watts bath on silver foils was carried out to understand the influence of operating conditions on the electrodeposition process. From the cyclic voltammetry study, it can be concluded that suitable operating conditions for nickel electrodeposition into porous Ag/GDC scaffolds and catalytic membranes are: 1.1 M Ni2+ concentration in Watts bath; deposition potential between −0.65 to −1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl; a temperature at 55°C; sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as the surfactant; pH 4.0 ± 0.2 and an agitation rate of 500 rpm. It was observed that the nickel surface microstructure changed with the deposition current densities due to the co-evolution of H2. Pulse and continuous electrodeposition modes allow nickel to be deposited throughout porous Ag/GDC scaffolds and onto catalytic membranes. The pulse electrodeposition mode is favored as this is shown to result in an even Ni distribution within the porous scaffolds at minimum H2 pitting.