Ni4Co Nanoparticles Enable Stable Ethane-Fueled Protonic Solid Oxide Fuel Cells for Electricity–Ethylene Cogeneration

Abstract

Abstract Ethylene production via conventional steam cracking is highly energy-intensive and suffers from substantial CO2 emissions, catalyst deactivation, and coke formation. Proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) offer an attractive alternative by coupling selective ethane dehydrogenation with direct electricity generation. However, efficient ethane-fueled operation remains limited by the lack of anodes that combine high catalytic activity, electrochemical performance, and coking resistance. Here, we develop a Ni4Co nanoparticle-modified La0.5Sr0.5Fe0.9Mo0.1O3–δ (Ni4Co@LSFM) composite anode for protonic SOFCs capable of coproducing ethylene and electricity from ethane. The LSFM perovskite scaffold provides structural stability, redox tolerance, and charge-transport pathways, while the dispersed Ni4Co nanoparticles promote ethane activation and selective C–H bond cleavage. The resulting cell fabricated using Ni4Co@LSFM as the anode delivers peak power densities of 332 and 200 mW cm–2 at 750 °C in H2 and C2H6, respectively. During ethane operation, the cell achieves 44.3% ethane conversion and 41.0% ethylene yield while maintaining stable performance for 100 h with negligible degradation. This work demonstrates that integrating alloy nanoparticle catalysis with a robust perovskite oxide framework is an effective strategy for enhancing hydrocarbon conversion, power generation, and coke tolerance, highlighting protonic SOFCs as promising electrochemical reactors for efficient ethane-to-ethylene cogeneration.