The University of Tokyo · Materials Science
Professor Anna Ściążko's research lab specializes in the development and characterization of advanced materials for solid oxide cells (SOCs), with a focus on electrode microstructure engineering, degradation mechanisms, and long-term stability. The lab combines experimental materials science with cutting-edge computational methods, including machine learning and 3D microstructure reconstruction from FIB-SEM tomography, to predict and optimize electrochemical performance. Key research directions include the design of Ni-free and Ni-based anodes, understanding phase stability under operating conditions, and creating synthetic 3D microstructures from 2D imaging data using generative adversarial networks (GANs).
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
In the present study, solid oxide cells (SOCs) were operated in the electricity generation (solid oxide fuel cell, SOFC) mode and the hydrogen production (solid oxide electrolysis cell, SOEC) mode. The fuel electrodes fabricated with nickel-gadolinia doped ceria (Ni-GDC) and nickel-yttria stabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ) composites were investigated. The correlations between changes in the microstructure and degradation of electrochemical performance are discussed. The degradation mechanisms correla
Nickel-gadolinium doped ceria (Ni-GDC) composite anodes gain a lot of attention as they have potential to be a beneficial solution for the intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells. In this paper, the influence of the initial microstructure of Ni-GDC anode on the polarization characteristics and its deterioration in 100h operation are investigated. The initial microstructures of the investigated anodes are determined by the different sizes and aspect ratios of the GDC powders, but all anod
A framework for the automatic segmentation of large 3-D datasets of microscopic images is designed and tested for microstructures of solid oxide cells (SOC) electrodes reconstructed using focused ion beam—scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM). The developed algorithm utilizes a simple, yet very effective deep neural network based on the patch-convolutional layers (patch-CNN) in the encoder-decoder configuration. The guidelines for a selection of network architecture and for preparing and minimi
Understanding and modelling complex phenomenon in solid oxide fuel cell electrodes require information about their three dimensional microstructures. However, measuring the 3-D micro- and nano-structures requires complex and time-consuming data acquisition technique such as focused ion beam - scanning electron (FIB-SEM) tomography. Meanwhile, obtaining a single 2-D cross-sectional SEM image is relatively simple. A new algorithm for synthetic 3-D microstructure generation from 2-D cross-section i
Abstract Microstructure of electrodes determines the performance of electrochemical devices such as fuel cells and batteries. The efficiency and economic feasibility of these technologies depend on the stability of the microstructures throughout their lifetime. Although modeling techniques were proposed for determining electrode performance from 2- or 3-dimensional microstructural data, it is still extremely challenging to predict long-term structural degradation by means of numerical simulation
In the present study, the Ni-free anode fabricated with La0.9Sr0.1Cr0.5Mn0.5O3-δ (LSCM) and Gd0.1Ce0.9O2-δ (GDC) powders is evaluated. The sintering temperature, electrode thickness and composition are optimized. The anodes with GDC share over 70% exhibited the lowest initial polarization resistance. However, anodes with share of GDC over 80% significantly degraded in the accelerated degradation test. The reason of the degradation is attributed to the nano-cracking of the GDC phase. It was found
This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations of methane/steam reforming process over a Ni/YSZ catalyst for SOFCs. Designing and optimizing an indirect internal reformer and a cell with direct reforming for an SOFC application require precise kinetic data. The generalized least squares (GLS) method was applied to evaluate the reaction rate. Mathematical modeling of the process coupled with the GLS algorithm and numerical analyses pointed out that the experimental inaccuracy could
A superheated steam fluidized bed dryer (SSFBD) in a self-heat recuperative configuration has a great potential of improving thermal efficiency of a lignite-fired power plant by recovering both of latent heat of vaporization of water kept in the fuel and part of sensible heat during the fuel processing. However, the optimal design of the dryer requires the fundamental knowledge of drying characteristics in respect to the individual properties of the utilized fuel. Experimental investigation to d
Quantitative microstructure analysis is an important task in many fields of material engineering. In solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), the microstructure of porous electrodes determines electrochemical performance of the cell. Three dimensional analysis by focused ion beam - scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) has been successfully implemented to evaluate the fabrication strategies and to identify degradation mechanisms. For precise evaluation of the electrode microstructures, segmentation of lar
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