A new anode for solid oxide fuel cells with enhanced OCV under methane operation.

A new SOFC anode material based upon oxygen excess perovskite related phases has been synthesised. The material shows better electrochemical performance than other alternative new anodes and comparable performance to the state-of-art of the electrodes, Ni-YSZ cermets, under pure hydrogen. Furthermore, this material shows an enhanced performance under methane operation with high open circuit voltages, i.e. 1.2-1.4 V at 950 degrees C, without using steam excess. The effect of the anode configuration was tested in one and four layer configurations. The optimised electrode polarisation resistances were just 0.12 ohm cm(2) and 0.36 ohm cm(2), at 950 degrees C, in humidified H(2) and humidified CH(4), respectively. Power densities of 0.5 W cm(-2) and 0.35 W cm(-2) were obtained in the same conditions. A very low anodic overpotential of 100 mV at 1 A cm(-2) was obtained under humidified H(2) at 950 degrees C. Samples were tested for two days in reducing and oxidising conditions, alternating heating and cooling processes from 850 degrees C to 950 degrees C, showing stable electrode performance and open circuit voltages. The results show that the substituted strontium titanates are very promising anode materials for SOFC.

Synthesis, X-ray structure, polarized optical spectra and DFT theoretical calculations of two new organic-inorganic hybrid fluoromanganates(III): (bpaH2)[MnF4(H2O)2]2 and (bpeH2)[MnF4(H2O)2]2.

Two new fluoromanganates(III) of 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane (bpa) and trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene (bpe), LH(2)[MnF(4)(H(2)O)(2)](2) (L = bpa or bpe), have been prepared and their structure have been solved by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The [MnF(4)(H(2)O)(2)](-) anion displays an octahedral geometry with a strong Jahn-Teller tetragonal distortion along the H(2)O-Mn-OH(2) axis. The equatorial metal-ligand distances (Mn-F 1.827(1)-1.859(2) A) are shorter than the axial ones (Mn-O 2.203(2)-2.234(2) A). Three polarized absorption bands at 22,500, 18,300 and 14,500 cm(-1) are observed in the optical spectra of (bpaH(2))[MnF(4)(H(2)O)(2)](2). Finally, we present theoretical calculations on the equilibrium bond distances as well as the crystal-field electron structure using density functional methods. The calculated Mn-F bond distances (1.85 A) are in agreement with the experimental data but the obtained Mn-O distances (2.53-2.56 A) are higher than the experimental one as usually found in similar Jahn-Teller distorted systems. The calculated d-d transition energies are compared with experimental energies derived from the optical spectra. The variation of the HOMO energy and transition energies against the Mn-O distance is also shown.