Digital-electrode-based mesoscale analysis of degradation in solid oxide fuel cell anode

The mesoscale characteristics of the anode are crucial for exploring the degradation mechanisms affecting solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) electrochemical performance. Here, we report a heterogeneous model based on digital electrode three-dimensional reconstructions, which not only significantly improves cost and time efficiency but also effectively captures the mesoscale features of the anode. The digital electrodes with different nickel-coarsening stages are synthesized to analyze the electrochemical performance degradation behavior. The results show that the digital electrodes closely resemble the actual electrode, with an average error of only 4.14%. Nickel coarsening exacerbates the anodes’ non-uniformity, increasing the pore-size gradient by 49.6% and reducing the active three-phase boundary (TPB) density by 66.6%. Furthermore, the consistent patterns in the variations of polarization curves and active TPB density during nickel coarsening confirm that the performance degradation primarily stems from the reduced active TPB density and the elevated mesoscale non-uniformities of the anode due to nickel coarsening.