05/13/2024
By Edwin L. Aguirre

This highly competitive annual program selects the nation’s best young university faculty-scholars “who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization,” according to the agency.

Specifically, Jin will study mechanisms that would enable devices called reversible solid oxide cells, or RSOCs, to efficiently switch between producing “robust” amounts of hydrogen and generating electricity. 

“RSOCs can potentially revolutionize the way power is generated and hydrogen fuel is produced,” says Jin. She says the devices can store excess electricity generated from other renewable sources like solar and wind by converting the surplus into hydrogen. 

“This stored energy can then be used when demand is high or when solar and wind are not available, ensuring a steady and reliable power supply,” Jin says. 

RSOCs can also be used in remote or off-grid locations to produce electricity and heat from locally available fuels or stored hydrogen, providing reliable energy and heating to communities without access to centralized power grids, she adds.

However, despite their technological promise, RSOCs face major challenges in durability due to the rapid degradation of the cells (a process called “delamination failure”) under prolonged, high-temperature operating conditions, according to Jin.

“My goal is to understand the complex delamination mechanisms taking place within the devices,” she explains. “By developing mitigation strategies to overcome these challenges, we could use RSOCs to drastically reduce the cost of large-scale, long-duration energy storage as well as to promote the integration of renewable energy sources into the power grid.”

Extending the Devices’ Lifespan

RSOC devices switch between two opposite operating modes – the electrolysis mode for producing hydrogen and the fuel cell mode for generating electricity. According to Jin, rapid degradation occurs during the electrolysis mode, caused by delamination failure at the cells’ oxygen electrode-electrolyte interface.

Jin and her team will use an integrated mechanical and electrochemical approach to unravel the degradation process.

“This is the first time advanced, full-field X-ray imaging techniques and 3D multiphysics simulations will be conducted to understand the degradation mechanisms of the RSOC’s electrodes, which have very complicated microstructures,” she says. “Hopefully, our findings will lead to improved design of new oxygen electrodes to extend the device’s lifespan as well as develop protocols for safe operation of the cells.”