In situ investigation on the deformation of porous nickel and porous nichel oxide in molten carbonate

At the early stage of MCFC operation, the porous Ni-based cathode subjected to the load of cell stack may deteriorate in the process of its transformation to the working lithiated NiO cathode, which will result in the potential damage to the cell performance and lifetime. In this study, a home-made LVDT displacement-measuring system was set up and applied in in situ deformation experiments. The deformation behaviors of porous NiO and Ni plaques were investigated under the simulating conditions of MCFC operation. The experimental results indicate that the porous nickel deforms most severely when it is in situ oxidized and lithiated under loading. However, under the same conditions the deformation of porous nickel which is pre-lithiated and oxidized before a load is applied is much less. In contrast, the in situ deformation of the porous nickel oxide is not significant as a whole.