H/D isotopic exchange and electrochemical kinetics of hydrogen oxidation on Ni-cermets with oxygen-ionic and protonic electrolytes

Ni–Zr0.82Y0.18O1.91 (YSZ) and Ni–La0.90Sr0.10ScO2.95 (LSS) cermets for solid oxide and protonic ceramic electrochemical cells were studied by means of H/D isotope exchange with the gas phase equilibration method for the first time. The experiments were carried out at 2 mbar of dry hydrogen in the temperature range of 400–800 ᵒC. The three parallel channels of hydrogen surface exchange were found to exist in both Ni-YSZ and Ni-LSS cermets. The mechanism of hydrogen isotope exchange for Ni-YSZ was found to be temperature independent, while, in the case of Ni-LSS, the mechanism changed with temperature and was more complicated at lower temperatures (400–600 °C). It was revealed that hydrogen spillover was the rate-determining step for both cermets.