Ammonia protonic ceramic fuel cells (NH₃-PCFCs) are promising and attractive energy-conversion devices owing to their high energy density, zero-carbon emission, and safety. The development of NH₃-PCFCs, however, depends largely on the insufficient activity and poor durability of typical Ni-based anodes for ammonia decomposition, especially at low temperatures such as 550 °C. Herein, we report a self-assembled heterostructured Ru_0.95Cu_0.05Ni_x (RCN) catalyst obtained through an in situ reaction between the surface-decorated Ru_0.95Cu_0.05 nanoparticles and the Ni grain in the anode under typical processing conditions. At 550 °C, Ni–BaZr_0.1Ce_0.7Y_0.1Yb_0.1O₃ anode-supported PCFCs with RCN catalysts exhibit a high peak power density of 0.732 W cm⁻² and a significantly enhanced durability of 100 h in NH₃. Moreover, the cells demonstrate improved thermal stability compared with the bare cell during a 31-cycle thermal cycling test in NH₃ between 550 and 700 °C. The enhanced performance is likely attributed to the synergistic effects of Ru and Cu in RCN for NH₃ decomposition, resulting in a more vital interaction of NH₃ than that of the bare anode surfaces, as confirmed by NH₃ thermal conversion, electrochemical performance, and theoretical simulations.

中文翻译：

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用于 550 °C 下活性、耐用且热稳定的氨质子陶瓷燃料电池的原位形成催化剂

氨质子陶瓷燃料电池（NH ₃ -PCFC）由于其高能量密度、零碳排放和安全性而成为有前途且有吸引力的能量转换装置。然而，NH ₃ -PCFC的发展很大程度上取决于典型镍基阳极对氨分解的活性不足和耐久性差，特别是在550℃等低温下。在此，我们报道了一种自组装异质结构Ru _0.95 Cu _0.05 Ni _x (RCN) 催化剂，该催化剂是在典型的加工条件下通过表面修饰的Ru _0.95 Cu _0.05纳米粒子与阳极中的Ni颗粒之间的原位反应获得的。在550 °C下，采用RCN催化剂的Ni–BaZr _0.1 Ce _0.7 Y _0.1 Yb _0.1 O _{3阳极负载PCFC表现出0.732 W cm} ^-2的高峰值功率密度以及在NH ₃中显着增强的100 h耐久性。此外，在 NH ₃中550 至 700 °C 之间的 31 个循环热循环测试中，与裸电池相比，这些电池表现出更高的热稳定性。性能的增强可能归因于 RCN 中 Ru 和 Cu 对 NH ₃分解的协同作用，导致 NH ₃的相互作用比裸露阳极表面的相互作用更重要，这一点通过 NH ₃热转化、电化学性能和理论模拟。