Ammonia has received considerable attention as a promising carbon-free hydrogen carrier. At temperatures above 400 °C, NH₃ is thermodynamically unstable with respect to decomposition into nitrogen and hydrogen and is, thus, suitable for direct use in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) without external reforming. However, poor catalytic activity for ammonia decomposition at the moderate temperatures of protonic ceramic fuel cell (PCFC) operation has resulted in low fuel cell power output relative to operation on hydrogen and likely contributes to reported cell degradation. Here we prepared cells based on a thermodynamically robust electrolyte, a high activity cathode, and an anode with a distinctive structure to overcome challenges of poor activity and stability. The cells delivered peak power densities of 0.59 and 0.44 W cm^–2 under H₂ and NH₃, respectively, at 500 °C, excellent stability over a period of 200 h, and no detectable NO_x in the anode exhaust gas.

中文翻译：

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了解直接氨质子陶瓷燃料电池：在没有贵金属催化剂的情况下实现高性能


氨作为一种有前途的无碳氢载体受到了相当大的关注。在 400 °C 以上的温度下，NH₃ 在热力学上分解成氮气和氢气方面不稳定，因此适合直接用于固体氧化物燃料电池 （SOFC），无需外部重整。然而，在质子陶瓷燃料电池 （PCFC） 的中等温度下，氨分解的催化活性差，导致燃料电池相对于氢气运行而言，燃料电池功率输出较低，并可能导致据报道的电池降解。在这里，我们基于热力学稳健的电解质、高活性阴极和具有独特结构的阳极制备了电池，以克服活性和稳定性差的挑战。在 500 °C 下，电池在 H₂ 和 NH₃ 下分别提供 0.59 和 0.44 W cm^–2 的峰值功率密度，在 200 小时内具有出色的稳定性，并且在阳极废气中没有可检测到的 NO_x。