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Novel Ceramic Materials for the Energy Transition
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Novel Ceramic Materials for the Energy Transition

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced and Functional Ceramics and Glasses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 15160

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jesus Gonzalez-Julian

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chair of Ceramics, Institute of Mineral Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Forckenbeckstrasse 33, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Interests: advanced ceramics; MAX phases; MXenes; sustainable processes; energy transition; sintering; composites; high temperature

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

High global energy consumption, including its consequences, such as global warming and harmful gas emissions, is one of the main challenges of our society. This worldwide threat has to be tackled in different fields, but the “energy transition” is essential. Energy production has to release zero carbon emissions and this is only possible with a shift towards sustainable and renewable energy systems. In that sense, new materials are demanded to increase the efficiency of power generation systems and to develop novel environmentally friendly approaches, as well as to reduce – or even eliminate – the carbon footprint during their processing. Ceramics play a determinant role since they present high chemical stability under aggressive environmental conditions to increase the operating temperature, and consequently the overall efficiency. Furthermore, they have low density, which is critical for transportation (i.e., batteries in cars and gas turbines in planes) and a unique combination of ionic and electronic conductivities (for Li- and Na- batteries, Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, gas membranes, etc.).

The scope of this Special Issue embraces research on the processing, characterization, and properties of advanced ceramics for the energy transition, including high-temperature materials (such as ceramic matrix composites, max phases, ultra-high temperature ceramics, and thermal barrier coatings), Li- and Na- batteries, solid oxide fuel cells, gas separation membranes, CO2 capture, electrolysis, hydrogen production and storage, solar energy, photovoltaics, and nuclear fusion among others.

Prof. Dr. Jesus Gonzalez-Julian
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • advanced ceramics
  • high-temperature materials
  • Li- and Na- Batteries
  • solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs)
  • gas separation membranes
  • CO2 capture
  • electrolysis
  • hydrogen production and storage
  • solar energy
  • photovoltaics
  • nuclear fusion

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 5635 KiB  
Article
Process Chain Development for the Fabrication of Three-Dimensional Braided Oxide Ceramic Matrix Composites
by Martin Kolloch, Georg Puchas, Niels Grigat, Ben Vollbrecht, Walter Krenkel and Thomas Gries
Materials 2021, 14(21), 6338; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14216338 - 23 Oct 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2606
Abstract
Fiber composites with a three-dimensional braided reinforcement architecture have higher fiber volume content and Z-fiber content compared to a two-dimensional braided reinforcement architecture; as a result, the shear strength increases. Porous oxide fiber composites (OFCs) have the inherent weakness of a low interlaminar [...] Read more.
Fiber composites with a three-dimensional braided reinforcement architecture have higher fiber volume content and Z-fiber content compared to a two-dimensional braided reinforcement architecture; as a result, the shear strength increases. Porous oxide fiber composites (OFCs) have the inherent weakness of a low interlaminar shear strength, which can be specifically increased by the use of a three-dimensional fiber reinforcement. In this work, the braiding process chain for processing highly brittle oxide ceramic fibers is modified; as a consequence, a bobbin, which protects the filament, is developed and quantitatively evaluated on a test rig with regard to tension and filament breakage. Subsequently, a braiding process is designed which takes into account fiber-protecting aspects, and a three-dimensional reinforced demonstrator is produced and tested. After impregnation with an Al2O3-ZrO2 slurry, by either a prepreg process or a vacuum-assisted process, as well as subsequent sintering, the three-dimensional braid-reinforced OFC exhibits an interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) which is higher than that of two-dimensional braid- or fabric-reinforced samples by 64–95%. The influence of the manufacturing process on the relative macropore content is investigated and correlated with the mechanical properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Ceramic Materials for the Energy Transition)
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15 pages, 4822 KiB  
Article
Electrical and Structural Properties of Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3—Based Ceramics Prepared with the Addition of Li4SiO4
by Konrad Kwatek, Wioleta Ślubowska, Jan Leszek Nowiński, Agnieszka Teresa Krawczyńska, Isabel Sobrados and Jesús Sanz
Materials 2021, 14(19), 5729; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14195729 - 30 Sep 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2831
Abstract
The currently studied materials considered as potential candidates to be solid electrolytes for Li-ion batteries usually suffer from low total ionic conductivity. One of them, the NASICON-type ceramic of the chemical formula Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3, [...] Read more.
The currently studied materials considered as potential candidates to be solid electrolytes for Li-ion batteries usually suffer from low total ionic conductivity. One of them, the NASICON-type ceramic of the chemical formula Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3, seems to be an appropriate material for the modification of its electrical properties due to its high bulk ionic conductivity of the order of 10−3 S∙cm−1. For this purpose, we propose an approach concerning modifying the grain boundary composition towards the higher conducting one. To achieve this goal, Li4SiO4 was selected and added to the LATP base matrix to support Li+ diffusion between the grains. The properties of the Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3−xLi4SiO4 (0.02 ≤ x ≤ 0.1) system were studied by means of high-temperature X-ray diffractometry (HTXRD); 6Li, 27Al, 29Si, and 31P magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MAS NMR); thermogravimetry (TG); scanning electron microscopy (SEM); and impedance spectroscopy (IS) techniques. Referring to the experimental results, the Li4SiO4 additive material leads to the improvement of the electrical properties and the value of the total ionic conductivity exceeds 10−4 S∙cm−1 in most studied cases. The factors affecting the enhancement of the total ionic conductivity are discussed. The highest value of σtot = 1.4 × 10−4 S∙cm−1 has been obtained for LATP–0.1LSO material sintered at 1000 °C for 6 h. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Ceramic Materials for the Energy Transition)
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21 pages, 20538 KiB  
Article
Injection Molding and Near-Complete Densification of Monolithic and Al2O3 Fiber-Reinforced Ti2AlC MAX Phase Composites
by Sylvain Badie, Rimy Gabriel, Doris Sebold, Robert Vaßen, Olivier Guillon and Jesus Gonzalez-Julian
Materials 2021, 14(13), 3632; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14133632 - 29 Jun 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2544
Abstract
Near-net shape components composed of monolithic Ti2AlC and composites thereof, containing up to 20 vol.% Al2O3 fibers, were fabricated by powder injection molding. Fibers were homogeneously dispersed and preferentially oriented, due to flow constriction and shear-induced velocity gradients. [...] Read more.
Near-net shape components composed of monolithic Ti2AlC and composites thereof, containing up to 20 vol.% Al2O3 fibers, were fabricated by powder injection molding. Fibers were homogeneously dispersed and preferentially oriented, due to flow constriction and shear-induced velocity gradients. After a two-stage debinding procedure, the injection-molded parts were sintered by pressureless sintering at 1250 °C and 1400 °C under argon, leading to relative densities of up to 70% and 92%, respectively. In order to achieve near-complete densification, field assisted sintering technology/spark plasma sintering in a graphite powder bed was used, yielding final relative densities of up to 98.6% and 97.2% for monolithic and composite parts, respectively. While the monolithic parts shrank isotropically, composite assemblies underwent anisotropic densification due to constrained sintering, on account of the ceramic fibers and their specific orientation. No significant increase, either in hardness or in toughness, upon the incorporation of Al2O3 fibers was observed. The 20 vol.% Al2O3 fiber-reinforced specimen accommodated deformation by producing neat and well-defined pyramidal indents at every load up to a 30 kgf (~294 N). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Ceramic Materials for the Energy Transition)
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16 pages, 5658 KiB  
Article
Fast Solution Synthesis of NiO-Gd0.1Ce0.9O1.95 Nanocomposite via Different Approach: Influence of Processing Parameters and Characterizations
by Jorge Durango-Petro, Christopher Salvo, Jonathan Usuba, Gonzalo Abarzua, Felipe Sanhueza and Ramalinga Viswanathan Mangalaraja
Materials 2021, 14(12), 3437; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14123437 - 21 Jun 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3023
Abstract
The synthesis of the nickel oxide-gadolinium doped ceria (NiO-GDC with 65:35 wt. %) nanocomposite powders with a stoichiometry of Gd0.1Ce0.9O1.95 was performed via fast solution combustion technique; using three different mixing methods: (i) CM (metal cations in an [...] Read more.
The synthesis of the nickel oxide-gadolinium doped ceria (NiO-GDC with 65:35 wt. %) nanocomposite powders with a stoichiometry of Gd0.1Ce0.9O1.95 was performed via fast solution combustion technique; using three different mixing methods: (i) CM (metal cations in an aqueous solution), (ii) HM (hand mortar), and (iii) BM (ball milling). The nanocomposite powders were calcined at 700 °C for 2 h and characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and X-ray Diffraction XRD. The TEM and XRD analyses evidenced the well-dispersed NiO and GDC crystallites with the absence of secondary phases, respectively. Later, the calcined powders (NiO-GDC nanocomposites) were compacted and sintered at 1500 °C for 2 h. The microhardness of the sintered nanocomposites varies in accordance with the synthesis approach: a higher microhardness of 6.04 GPa was obtained for nanocomposites synthesized through CM, while 5.94 and 5.41 GPa were obtained for ball-milling and hand-mortar approach, respectively. Furthermore, it was observed that regardless of the long time-consuming ball-milling process with respect to the hand mortar, there was no significant improvement in the electrical properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Ceramic Materials for the Energy Transition)
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11 pages, 2254 KiB  
Article
Synthesis and Characterization of a Nearly Single Bulk Ti2AlN MAX Phase Obtained from Ti/AlN Powder Mixture through Spark Plasma Sintering
by Christopher Salvo, Ernesto Chicardi, Rosalía Poyato, Cristina García-Garrido, José Antonio Jiménez, Cristina López-Pernía, Pablo Tobosque and Ramalinga Viswanathan Mangalaraja
Materials 2021, 14(9), 2217; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14092217 - 26 Apr 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2895
Abstract
MAX phases are an advanced class of ceramics based on ternary carbides or nitrides that combine some of the ceramic and metallic properties, which make them potential candidate materials for many engineering applications under severe conditions. The present work reports the successful synthesis [...] Read more.
MAX phases are an advanced class of ceramics based on ternary carbides or nitrides that combine some of the ceramic and metallic properties, which make them potential candidate materials for many engineering applications under severe conditions. The present work reports the successful synthesis of nearly single bulk Ti2AlN MAX phase (>98% purity) through solid-state reaction and from a Ti and AlN powder mixture in a molar ratio of 2:1 as starting materials. The mixture of Ti and AlN powders was subjected to reactive spark plasma sintering (SPS) under 30 MPa at 1200 °C and 1300 °C for 10 min in a vacuum atmosphere. It was found that the massive formation of Al2O3 particles at the grain boundaries during sintering inhibits the development of the Ti2AlN MAX phase in the outer zone of the samples. The effect of sintering temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the Ti2AlN MAX phase was investigated and discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Ceramic Materials for the Energy Transition)
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