A new anode material for solid oxide electrolyser: The neodymium nickelate Nd2NiO4+δ

Neodymium nickelate, with composition Nd2NiO4+δ is integrated as oxygen electrode in a solid oxide electrolyte supported cell made of a TZ3Y electrolyte and a Ni-CGO hydrogen electrode. This cell is tested in both fuel cell (SOFC) and electrolysis (SOEC) mode and the reversible operation is proven, ASR values being slightly lower in electrolysis mode. Performances in SOEC mode are compared with a commercial cell based on the same electrolyte and cathode, but with lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM) as anode. For a voltage of 1.3 V, current densities of 0.40, 0.64 and 0.87 A cm−2 are measured at 750, 800 and 850 °C, respectively; they are much higher than the ones measured in the same conditions for the LSM-containing cell. Indeed, for a voltage of 1.3 V, current densities are respectively 1.7, 3 and 4.2 times higher for the Nd2NiO4+δ cell than for the LSM one at 850, 800 and 750 °C, respectively. Consequently, Nd2NiO4+δ can be considered as a good candidate for operating below 800 °C as oxygen electrode for high temperature steam electrolysis.