Abstract The NiO/YSZ modified with B-site doped lanthanum strontium titanate (LST) was investigated as cathode materials for the reduction of CO2 in a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC). The electrocatalytic activity evaluated in CO2/H2 under solid oxide fuel cell and SOEC conditions both demonstrated that the cobalt-doped LST (LSTC) performs better than pristine NiO/YSZ and is the best among the doped LSTs. The high performance of the LSTC-modified cathode was ascribed to its good CO2 reduction ability, as evidenced by infrared and temperature-programmed surface reaction studies. Furthermore, LSTC was believed to play a role not only in serving active sites for the CO2 reaction, but also in relieving stress induced by Ni oxidation, thus stabilizing the cathode structure. Direct electrolysis in the absence of H2 further confirmed that the LSTC modified cell exhibits better performance. On the contrary, the other LST-modified cells and a CaO-modified one suffered from severe electrode polarization. These results present the potential to construct a cell combining B-site doped LST oxides with Ni cermet in a SOEC for energy conversion.
Read full abstract