Architectured Interfaces and Electrochemical Modeling in an Anode Supported SOFC

Abstract

This work is dedicated to the development of a numerical model to optimize the anodeelectrolyte interface geometry for improving the electrochemical performance of a SOFC cell in a 3- Dimensional SOFC simulation process. A SOFC repeated unit composed of anode, electrolyte and cathode is taken as a modeling target. The model is implemented by considering electron and ions conservation, gas transport and electrochemical reaction kinetics in FEM (finite element method) software COMSOL Multiphysics. Four different interface geometries—flat, pyramid, ellipsoid and cube, which are predicted to show better electrochemical performance due to increased TPBs and less activation resistance, are investigated to find the best morphology according to their simulated performance. Results reveal that the cubic interface case achieves the highest current density at fixed 0.7V cell operating voltage, 63.55% higher than the flat reference interface. Distribution of different electrochemical variables is also obtained in each condition, giving valuable information for further optimization.