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Atom Probe Tomography of Porous Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Atom Probe Tomography of Porous Solid Oxide Fuel Cells


Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are high-temperature electrochemical devices that hold great potential for clean energy production. These materials convert hydrogen and air into electrical power in fuel cell mode and can also operate in electrolysis mode to generate electricity. The efficiency of these electrochemical reactions is influenced by the microstructure and material properties of the porous oxygen and hydrogen electrodes. Understanding the changes in electrode materials after high temperature operation is crucial for assessing the long-term feasibility, stability, and performance of solid oxide cells in industrial applications.

Historically, analyzing fuel cell materials with atom probe tomography (APT) has been challenging due to their porous nature and low yield. However, the use of a shorter wavelength laser pulse in the LEAP 6000XR series has improved yield, making routine measurements of these materials possible. In this upcoming webinar, Lazar Vucicevic and Katherine Rice will present APT results on an oxygen electrode material composed of lanthanum-doped strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF) and a ceria-doped gadolinium oxide (CGO) barrier layer. They will discuss the compositional and microstructural changes in both as-manufactured and aged samples, focusing on the Gd stabilizing behavior and grain boundary segregation. The live Q&A session will feature Dr. Maxime Hubert, a fuel cell expert from CEA-LITEN.

Tuesday, March 18, 10AM CST

View it here.
Passcode: UNA057%z 

Presenters:

Lazar
Lazar Vucicevic

Engineering Management Associate

CAMECA

Lazar Vucicevic is an applications engineer at Cameca Instruments with a BS in Materials Science and Engineering. Following his graduation in 2022 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he spent a year each at the Reichert Technologies and Laserage business units of Ametek before landing at Cameca.

Katie

Katherine Rice

Applications & Market Development Manager

CAMECA

Dr. Katherine Rice is the Applications and Market Development Manager with Cameca Instruments in Madison, WI. She received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado-Boulder and completed an NRC postdoc at NIST-Boulder. Her research interests include transmission EBSD, nanoparticle synthesis, and atom probe tomography.

Maxime
Maxime Hubert

Scientist

French Atomic and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA)

Maxime Hubert is a scientist at the French Atomic and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA). He graduated from the Grenoble Institute of Technology (INPG) in Materials science and obtained his Ph.D. at the Grenoble-Alpes University (France) in 2017 for a work on the degradation of Solid Oxide Cells (SOCs). He has since conducted post-doctoral researches using X-ray micro- and nano-tomography at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. His research interests are currently focused on the improvement of the SOCs performances and durability using advanced characterization techniques and multi-scale modelling.