Electrochemical performance of reversible molten carbonate fuel cells

• The electrochemical performance of reversible MCFC is investigated.
• It shows that the MCFC can be reversed and used also for fuel production.
• The Ni hydrogen electrode shows slightly higher polarization in electrolysis cell mode.
• The NiO oxygen electrode performs much lower polarization in electrolysis cell mode.

The electrochemical performance of a state-of-the-art molten carbonate cell was investigated in both fuel cell (MCFC) and electrolysis cell (MCEC) modes by using polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results show that it is feasible to run a reversible molten carbonate fuel cell and that the cell actually exhibits lower polarization in the MCEC mode, at least for the short-term tests undertaken in this study. The Ni hydrogen electrode and the NiO oxygen electrode were also studied in fuel cell and electrolysis cell modes under different operating conditions, including temperatures and gas compositions. The polarization of the Ni hydrogen electrode turned out to be slightly higher in the electrolysis cell mode than in the fuel cell mode at all operating temperatures and water contents. This was probably due to the slightly larger mass-transfer polarization rather than to charge-transfer polarization according to the impedance results. The CO2 content has an important effect on the Ni electrode in electrolysis cell mode. Increasing the CO2 content the Ni electrode exhibits slightly lower polarization in the electrolysis cell mode. The NiO oxygen electrode shows lower polarization loss in the electrolysis cell mode than in the fuel cell mode in the temperature range of 600–675 °C. The impedance showed that both charge-transfer and mass-transfer polarization of the NiO electrode are lower in the electrolysis cell than in the fuel cell mode.