A Carbon–Air Battery for High Power Generation1. Issue 12 (23rd January 2015) - Yang, Binbin
Abstract We report a carbon–air battery for power generation based on a solid‐oxide fuel cell (SOFC) integrated with a ceramic CO2‐permeable membrane. An anode‐supported tubular SOFC functioned as a carbon fuel container as well as an electrochemical device for power generation, while a high‐temperature CO2‐permeable membrane composed of a CO32− mixture and an O2− conducting phase (Sm0.2Ce0.8O1.9) was integrated for in situ separation of CO2 (electrochemical product) from the anode chamber, delivering high fuel‐utilization efficiency. After modifying the carbon fuel with a reverse Boudouard reaction catalyst to promote the in situ gasification of carbon to CO, an attractive peak power density of 279.3 mW cm−2 was achieved for the battery at 850 °C, and a small stack composed of two batteries can be operated continuously for 200 min. This work provides a novel type of electrochemical energy device that has a wide range of application potentials.