The growing need for clean and sustainable energy has stimulated a global imperative that demands new technologies for the way we produce and use energy. The high-efficiency, low-emission and fuel-flexible solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is a promising power generation technology to meet that demand. For solid oxide fuel cells to become a commercial product, however, they must be made more economical to operate and reliability must be improved to a level capable of competing with the existing internal combustion engine technology. One of the leading technical approaches toward that goal is to lower the operating temperature window from the current 700-1000C to 500-700C or lower by drastically improving the electrochemical performances of the electrodes, particularly the cathode for oxygen reduction. Increasing the surface area of the active cathode has been common research strategy for boosting cathode performance, but often with the expense of high fabrication cost and poor stability.
Other means to improve catalytic performance are under investigation. Professor Kevin Huang of the University of South Carolina recently demonstrated that molten carbonates (MCs) can significantly boost the rate of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Further, this unconventional catalyst appears to be simply prepared with single-step fabrication. The National Science Foundation Catalysis & Biocatalysis Program is making an award to fund Prof. Huang's project which is aimed at understanding from a fundamental science perspective the mechanisms of charge-transfer governing the MC-promoted ORR kinetics in SOFC cathodes operated at <650C. The innovative approach to enhance ORR kinetics through the use of molten carbonates may transform the conventional wisdom in understanding ORR mechanisms and in developing new catalytic cathode materials, thus providing the enabling technology for SOFCs to move toward commercialization. This has significant potential for an energy strategy for the US.
The PI plans several educational and outreach activities to enhance the understanding of SOFCs and the energy picture, and of the impact of this research work. Undergraduate students including minority and underrepresented groups will play an active role in this research through clearly identified, focused research projects. A new course °Solid State Electrochemistry¡± will be developed for the graduate students in the spring of 2015. The importance and potential impact of ongoing scientific advances in the area of energy research will be disseminated to the general public via an annual "Science Cafe" program at the University of South Carolina. A joint summer workshop with Benedict College, a historically black college, will be held in the summer of 2014 at the University of South Carolina to promote education and workforce development in the energy realm.
