• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.599-608
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• 2011

The Ni-Al anodes of the molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) with three different structures were successfully fabricated in order to reduce the thickness of the anode down to 0.3 mm; one was the non-supported anode made by a conventional tape casting method, and others were the supported anodes made by lamination or direct casting on the nickel screen. It was seen from the physical analyses and cell operation that the supported thin anodes made by direct casting showed good mechanical strength and cell performance because of a good contact between the anode materials and the support. The single cell using the above anode showed the cell voltage of 0.858 V at the current density of 150$mA/cm^2$ with the nitrogen cross-over of only 0.6% at the operation time of 1,000 h, which was similar to the performance of the conventional thick (0.7 mm) anode. The ability to utilize a thin configuration of anode should cut down the amount of nickel alloy and consequently reduce its manufacturing cost.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.133-138
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• 2013

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) plastic is a polymer material extensively used in electrical and electronic applications. Nickel (Ni) thin film was deposited on ABS by electroless plating, after its surface was treated and modified with atmospheric plasma generated by means of dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) in air. The method in this study was developed as a pre-treatment for electroless plating using DBDs, and is a dry process featuring fewer processing steps and more environmentally friendliness than the chemical method. After ABS surfaces were modified, surface morphologies were observed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to check for any physical changes of the surfaces. Cross-sectional SEM images were taken to observe the binding characteristics between metallic films and ABS after metal plating. According to the SEM images, the depths of ABS by plasma are shallow compared to those modified by chemically treatment. The static contact angles were measured with deionized (DI) water droplets on the modified surfaces in order to observe for any changes in chemical activities and wettability. The surfaces modified by plasma showed smaller contact angles, and their modified states lasted longer than those modified by chemical etching. Adhesion strengths were measured using 3M tape (3M 810D standard) and by 90° peel-off tests. The peel-off test revealed the stronger adhesion of the Ni films on the plasma-modified surfaces than on the chemically modified surfaces. Thermal shock test was performed by changing the temperature drastically to see if any detachment of Ni film from ABS would occur due to the differences in thermal expansion coefficients between them. Only for the plasma-treated samples showed no separation of the Ni films from the ABS surfaces in tests. The adhesion strengths of metallic films on the ABS processed by the method developed in this study are better than those of the chemically processed films.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.336-345
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• 2020

Nickel-doped lanthanum cobalt oxide (LaCo_1-xNi_xO_3-δ, LCN) was investigated as an alternative anode material for solid oxide fuel cells. To improve its catalytic activity for steam methane reforming (SMR) reaction, Ni²⁺ was substituted into Co³⁺ lattice in LaCoO₃. LCN anode, synthesized using the Pechini method, reacts with yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte at high temperatures to form an electrochemically inactive phase such as La₂Zr₂O₇. To minimize the interlayer by-products, the LCN was coated via a double-tape casting method on the Ni/YSZ anode as a catalytic functional layer. By increasing the Ni doping amount, oxygen vacancies in the LCN increased and the cell performance improved. CH₄ fuel decomposed to H₂ and CO via SMR reaction in the LCN functional layer. Hence, the LCN-coated Ni/YSZ anode exhibited better cell performance than the Ni/YSZ anode under H₂ and CH₄ fuels. LCN with 12 mol% of Ni (LCN12)-modified Ni/YSZ anode showed excellent long-term stability under H₂ and CH₄ conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Applied Superconductivity and Cryogenics Conference
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• 2002.02a
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• pp.339-339
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• 2002

In the RABiTS approach to coated conductor development, successful (both economic and technological) depends on the refinement and optimization of each of three important components: the metal tape substrate, the buffer layer(s), and the HTS layer. Here we will report on the ORNL approach and progress in each of these areas. - Most applications will require metal tapes with low magnetic hysteresis, mechanical strength, and excellent crystalline texture. Some of these requirements are competing. We report on progress in obtaining a good combination of these characteristics on metal alloys of Ni-Cr and Ni-W. - The deposition of appropriate buffer layers is a crucial step. Recently, base research has shown that the presence of a stable sulfur superstructure present on the metal surface is needed for the nucleation and epitaxial growth of vapor-deposited seed buffer layers such as YSZ, CeO$_2$ and SrTiO$_3$. We report on the details and control of this superstructure for nickel tapes, as well as recent results for Cu and Ni-13%Cr. - Processes for deposition of the HTS coating must economically provide large values of the figure-of-merit for conductors, current x length. At ORNL, we have devoted efforts to a precursor/post-annealing approach to YBCO coatings, for which the deposition and reaction steps are separate. We describe motivation for and progress toward developing this approach. - Finally, we address some issues for the implementation of coated conductors in real applications, including the need for texture control and electrical stabilization of the HTS coating.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.124-131
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• 2006

For commercialization of molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), it has some problems to be overcome such as decrease of porosity and thickness of the anode under the operating condition (at $650^{\circ}C$ and working pressure of more than 2 $kg_f/cm^2$). Recently, Ni-Al alloy anode has been proposed to replace the conventional Ni-Cr anode as an alternative material to resist a creep and inhibit the sintering. The objective of this research is to sinter the green sheet of Ni-Al alloy anode during single cell pre-treatment process, which has several advantages like cost down and simplification of manufacturing process. However, the Ni-Al alloy anode prepared with a conventional pre-treatment process showed the phase separation of Ni-Al alloy and formation of micropore(${\leqq}0.4{\mu}m$), resulting in low creep resistance and high electrolyte re-distribution. In order to prevent the Ni-Al alloy anode from phase-separating, nitrogen gas was used in the process of pre-treatment. Introducing the nitrogen, the phase separation from Ni-Al alloy into nickel and alumina was minimized and increased creep resistance. However, there was some micropore formation on the surface of Ni-Al alloy anode during the cell operation due to creation of lithium aluminate. Addition of more amount of electrolyte into a cell, especially at cathode, made the cell performance stable for 2,000 hrs. Consequently, it was possible to make the Ni-Al alloy anode with good creep resistance by the modified in-situ sintering technique.