Abstract
Oxygen reduction and incorporation into solid electrolytes and the reverse reaction of oxygen evolution play a cru-cial role in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) applications. However a detailed un¬derstanding of the kinetics of the cor-responding reactions, i.e. on reaction mechanisms, rate limiting steps, reaction paths, electrocatalytic role of materials, is still missing. These include a thorough characterization of the binding potentials experienced by protons in the lattice. We report results of Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS) measurements of the vibrational state of the protons in Ni- YSZ highly porous composites (75% to 90% ), a ceramic-metal material showing a high electrical conductivity and ther¬mal stability, which is known to be most effectively used as anodes for solid ox¬ide fuel cells. The results are compared with INS and Deep Inelastic Neutron Scattering (DINS) experiments on the proton binding states in bulk ice.
