In this study, the effect of microstructure of porous nickel electrode on the performance of high temperature fuel cell is investigated and presented based on a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) cathode. The cathode materials are fabricated from slurry consisting of nickel powder and polymeric binder/solvent mixture, using the tape casting method. The final pore structure is shaped through modifying the slurry composition - with or without the addition of porogen(s). The manufactured materials are extensively characterized by various techniques involving: micro-computed tomography (micro-XCT), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mercury porosimetry, BET and Archimedes method. Tomographic images are also analyzed and quantified to reveal the evolution of pore space due to nickel in situ oxidation to NiO, and infiltration by the electrolyte. Single-cell performance tests are carried out under MCFC operation conditions to estimate the performance of the manufactured materials. It is found that the multi-modal microstructure of MCFC cathode results in a significant enhancement of the power density generated by the reference cell. To give greater insight into the understanding of the effect of microstructure on the properties of the cathode, a model based on 3D tomography image transformation is proposed.

在这项研究中，基于熔融碳酸盐燃料电池（MCFC）阴极，研究并提出了多孔镍电极的微观结构对高温燃料电池性能的影响。阴极材料是使用流延法由镍粉和聚合物粘合剂/溶剂混合物组成的浆料制成的。最终的孔结构是通过改变浆液成分而成形的-添加或不添加致孔剂。所制造的材料通过多种技术进行了广泛表征，包括：微计算机断层扫描（micro-XCT），扫描电子显微镜（SEM），水银孔率法，BET和阿基米德方法。还对断层图像进行了分析和量化，以揭示由于镍原位引起的孔隙空间的演变氧化成NiO，并被电解质渗透。单电池性能测试是在MCFC操作条件下进行的，以估算制造材料的性能。发现MCFC阴极的多峰微观结构导致参考电池产生的功率密度的显着提高。为了更好地了解微观结构对阴极性能的影响，提出了一种基于3D断层扫描图像变换的模型。