Self-Construction of Efficient Interfaces Ensures High-Performance Direct Ammonia Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cells.

Direct ammonia protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are highly efficient energy conversion devices since ammonia as a carbon-neutral hydrogen-rich carrier shows great potential for storage and long-distance transportation when compared with hydrogen fuel. However, traditional Ni-based anodes readily suffer from severe structural destruction and dramatic deactivation after long-time exposure to ammonia. Here a Sr Fe Mo Cu O (SFMC) anode catalytic layer (ACL) painted onto a Ni-BaZr Ce Y Yb O (BZCYYb) anode with enhanced catalytic activity and durability toward the direct utilization of ammonia is reported. A tubular Ni-BZCYYb anode-supported cells with the SFMC ACL show excellent peak power densities of 1.77 W cm in wet H (3% H O) and 1.02 W cm in NH at 650 °C. A relatively stable operation of the cells is obtained at 650 °C for 200 h in ammonia fuel. Such achieved improvements in the activity and durability are attributed to the self-constructed interfaces with the phases of NiCu or/and NiFe for efficient NH decomposition, resulting in a strong NH adsorption strength of the SFMC, as confirmed by NH thermal conversion and NH -temperature programmed desorption. This research offers a valuable strategy of applying an internal catalytic layer for highly active and durable ammonia PCFCs.