Smältkarbonatbränslecellen (MCFC) är en högtemperaturbränslecell för stationära applikationer. Den har samma höga totalverkningsgrad som konventionella kraftvärme-anläggningar, men kan byggas i mindre moduler (från 250 kWe). De små modulerna och den bränsleflexibilitet (naturgas, biogas, etanol, diesel) som MCFC har, gör den intressant för exempelvis industrier med organiska restprodukter och höga krav på tillförlitlighet. Den höga temperaturen och närvaron av en saltsmälta gör dock materialdegradering till en viktig faktor för forskning och utveckling inom området. För även om de fälttester som nyligen gjorts har visat på att vissa av degraderingsprocesserna är mindre allvarliga än förväntat, finns fortfarande ett behov av utveckling för att sänka kostnaderna och förlänga livstiden. I första delen av detta arbete undersöktes material för olika delar av cellen inom ramarna för EU-projektet IRMATECH. Materialen ansågs vara interessanta alternativ till de nuvarande materialen på grund av deras lägre kostnad och/eller bättre prestanda. Två alternativa anodströmtilledarmaterial undersöktes. För anodströmtilledaren är korrosionen och den elektriska resistansen av det eventuella oxidlagret nyckelparametrar. Dessa parametrar undersöktes och utvärderades. Fastän de båda alternativa materialen hade oxidlager med låg resistans, fanns indikationer på korrosionsprocesser som kan äventyra materialets långtidsstabilitet. För katodmaterialet, NiO, har upplösningen varit problemet. De upplösta nickeljonerna fälls ut i elektrolyten och bildar dendriter som kan kortsluta cellen. Därför undersöktes nickelupplösningen hos tre alternativa katodmaterial. Det mest lovande materialet, en nickeloxid-katod dopad med magnesium och järn testades i en singelcell för att studera elektrokemisk prestanda, morfologi och områden där nickelutfällning skett. Resultaten visade att prestandan var jämförbar med NiO, men att den mekaniska stabiliteten måste undersökas ytterligare. I ”wet-seal”-området är det rostfria stålet belagt med ett aluminiumskikt för att skydda det från den mycket korrosiva miljön. Tillverkningsprocesserna för dessa aluminiumbeläggningar har hittills varit dyra och komplexa. Därför utvärderades en alternativ tillverkningsprocess. Beläggningen, studerad i både reducerande och oxiderande miljö visade en tendens till att spricka och därmed exponera det underliggande rostfria stålet. Detta berodde troligtvis på en manuell beläggningsprocess som resulterade i ett inhomogent ytskikt. I den andra delen av arbetet föreslogs en alternativ tillverkningsmetod, baserad på nyligen publicerade resultat där man elektrodeponerat aluminium från jonvätskor. Dessa har ett större katodiskt fönster än vatten och möjliggör därför elektrodeponering av elektropositiva material. För att göra processen industrivänlig provades ett alternativ till den vanligen använda aluminiumtrikloriden. Det visade sig dock att påverkan av miljön på stabiliteten hos jonvätskan behövde undersökas innan några material kunde tillverkas. Vatten i kombination med syre visade sig ha en stor inverkan på den katodiska strömtätheten. I frånvaro av dessa komponenter var jonvätskan mycket stabil. / The Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) is a high temperature fuel cell for stationary applications. It has the same high over-all efficiency (90%) as traditional combined heat and power plants, but MCFC can be built in small modules (from 250 kWe). The small modules in combination with fuel flexibility (natural gas, biogas, ethanol, diesel) makes MCFC an interesting alternative for industries with organic waste and high demands for reliability. The high temperature (650 °C) and the presence of molten salt result however in material degradation. Corrosion and dissolution of the materials used have been the challenge for MCFC. Although long-term field trials have shown that some of the material problems are not as severe as first believed, further material development is necessary to decrease the cost and prolong the life-time. In the first part of this work, materials for different parts of the cell were tested within the EU project IRMATECH. The materials were interesting alternatives to the state-of-the-art materials due to their lower cost and/or better performance. Two alternative anode current collector materials were tested. For the anode current collector the corrosion and electrical resistance of the possible oxide layer are key parameters. These parameters were investigated and evaluated. Although both the materials showed a low resistance, there were indications of corrosion processes which could affect the life-time of the material. For the cathode material, NiO, the dissolution of the material has been a problem. The dissolved nickel ions precipitate in the electrolyte and form conductive nickel dendrites that eventually short-circuit the cell. Therefore, the nickel dissolution of three alternative cathode materials was tested. The most promising material, a NiO doped with magnesium and iron, was tested in a single cell to study the electrical performance, the morphology after operation and the area where nickel had precipitated. The results showed that the performance was comparable to NiO, but it is necessary to investigate the mechanical strength of the material further. In the wet-seal area, the stainless steel is coated with an aluminium coating to protect the material from a severe corrosion environment. The production of aluminium coatings has so far been expensive and complex and an alternative coating process was evaluated. The alternative coating, tested in both reducing and oxidising environments showed a tendency to crack and expose the stainless steel to the corrosive environment. This was suggested being due to the manual coating process that resulted in inhomogeneous coatings. In the second part, an alternative process to coat the wet-seal was suggested, based on recently published results where aluminium had been electrodeposited from ionic liquids. These solvents have a wider electrochemical window than water, and electropositive materials can therefore be deposited. To make the coating process suitable for industrial applications, an alternative to the commonly used AlCl3 was tested. It was shown however, that the influence of the environment had to be investigated before any materials could be produced. The environment, especially water in combination with oxygen was shown to influence the cathodic current density. In absence of these components, the ionic liquid was shown to be very stable. / QC 20100906

Les mécanismes d’électrodéposition réalisés à partir d'électrolytes à base de liquides ioniques ne sont pas très bien compris en raison de l’organisation structurale complexe de ces électrolytes. Dans cette thèse, nous étudions les relations qui existent entre la morphologie des films, les propriétés électrochimiques ainsi que la structure de l'électrolyte liquide ionique. Plusieurs solutions ont été étudiées: CuCl, CuCl2 et CuSO4 dans 1-éthyl-3-méthylimidazolium éthyl-sulfate [EMIM] [EtSO4]; AgTFSI, CuTFSI2 et AlTFSI3 en 1-éthyl-3-méthylimidazolium bis(trifluorométhylsulfonyl)imide [EMIM] [TFSI]. Des mesures de cyclovoltammétrie montrent que les réductions de l’argent et du cuivre sont quasi-réversibles et se produisent par une réaction de transfert mono-électronique {(Ag (I) → Ag (0), (Cu (II) → Cu (I)) et (Cu (I) → Cu (0)}. La réduction de l'aluminium est irréversible. Les coefficients de diffusion augmentent avec la température de l'électrolyte et sont également influencés par l'état d'oxydation du métal et des anions en solution. Des films minces métalliques ont été obtenus pour toutes les solutions, sauf pour AlTFSI3. L'analyse par XRD et EDX montrent que les films sont cristallins et sont principalement constitués de cuivre ou d'argent pur. Leur morphologie est contrôlée par la température, du temps et du potentiel d’électrodéposition. D'une manière générale, l'élévation du temps de dépôt et de la température augmente la couverture du film et de la taille des particules, tandis que l'augmentation du potentiel de dépôt diminue la taille des particules. La structure des électrolytes a été étudiée par Raman et IR spectroscopies et interprétée à l’aide de méthodes théoriques de chimie quantique. Pour AgTFSI-[EMIM][TFSI], le cation d’argent est solvaté par trois anions TFSI-. Pour CuCl2-[EMIM][EtSO4], le cation de cuivre est solvaté par deux anions de chlore et deux anions EtSO4. / Deposition mechanisms from ionic liquid-based electrolytes are not fully understood due to difficulties in probing the electrolyte structure. In this study, we investigate the links between films morphology, electrochemical properties of the electrolyte and electrolyte structure. Several solutions were investigated: CuCl, CuCl2 and CuSO4 in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulphate [EMIM][EtSO4]; AgTFSI, CuTFSI2 and AlTFSI3 in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [EMIM][TFSI]. Cyclic-voltammetry shows that silver and copper reductions are quasi-reversible and occur by one-electron transfer reaction {(Ag(I)→Ag(0), (Cu(II)→Cu(I)) and (Cu(I)→Cu(0)}. Aluminium reduction is irreversible. The diffusion coefficients increase with electrolyte temperature, and are also influenced by the metal oxidation state and anions in solution. Metallic thin films were obtained for all the solutions except AlTFSI3. XRD and EDX analysis show that the films are crystalline and consist mainly of pure copper or silver. Their morphology is controlled by the deposition temperature, time and potential. In general, increasing the deposition time and temperature increases the film coverage and particle size, whereas increasing the deposition potential decreases the particle size. The electrolytes structure was investigated by Raman and IR spectroscopies, supported by theoretical calculations. For the AgTFSI-[EMIM][TFSI], silver cation is solvated by three TFSI-. For the CuCl2-[EMIM][EtSO4], copper cation is solvated by two chlorines and two EtSO4-.

Photoelectron spectroscopy is an experimental method to study the electronic structure in matter. In this thesis, a combination of soft and hard X-ray based photoelectron spectroscopy has been used to obtain atomic level understanding of electronic structures and energy level alignments in mesoscopic solar cells. The thesis describes how the method can be varied between being surface and bulk sensitive and how to follow the structure linked to particular elements. The results were discussed with respect to the material function in mesoscopic solar cell configurations. The heart of a solar cell is the charge separation of photoexcited electrons and holes, and in a mesoscopic solar cell, this occurs at interfaces between different materials. Understanding the energy level alignment between the materials is important for developing the function of the device. In this work, it is shown that photoelectron spectroscopy can be used to experimentally follow the energy level alignment at interfaces such as TiO2/metal sulfide/polymer, as well as TiO2/perovskite. The electronic structures of two perovskite materials, CH3NH3PbI3 and CH3NH3PbBr3 were characterized by photoelectron spectroscopy and the results were discussed with support from quantum chemical calculations. The outermost levels consisted mainly of lead and halide orbitals and due to a relatively higher cross section for heavier elements, hard X-ray excitation was shown useful to study the position as well as the orbital character of the valence band edge. Modifications of the energy level positions can be followed by core level shifts. Such studies showed that a commonly used additive in mesoscopic solar cells, Li-TFSI, affected molecular hole conductors in the same way as a p-dopant. A more controlled doping can also be achieved by redox active dopants such as Co(+III) complexes and can be studied quantitatively with photoelectron spectroscopy methods. Hard X-rays allow studies of hidden interfaces, which were used to follow the oxidation of Ti in stacks of thin films for conducting glass. By the use of soft X-rays, the interface structure and bonding of dye molecules to mesoporous TiO2 or ZnO could be studied in detail. A combination of the two methods can be used to obtain a depth profiling of the sample.