Multi-length scale tomography for the determination and optimization of the effective microstructural properties in novel hierarchical solid oxide fuel cell anodes

Xuekun Lu, Oluwadamilola O. Taiwo, Antonio Bertei, Tao Li, Kang Li, Dan J.L. Brett, Paul R.Shearing

Our parametric study shows that increasing the porosity in the spongy layer beyond 10% enhances the effective transport parameters of the spongy layer at an exponential rate, but linearly for the full anode. For the first time, local and global mass transport properties are correlated to the microstructure, which is of wide interest for rationalizing the design optimization of SOFC electrodes and more generally for hierarchical materials in batteries and membranes.