Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society ISSN:1598-6411(Print) 2508-3562(Online) 한국태양에너지학회 논문집

A newly developed Fe-CeO₂-coated ceramic-foam device has been designed, fabricated, and tested for higher oxygen/hydrogen productivity in the thermochemical two-step water-splitting cycle. For the fabrication of the Fe-CeO₂-coated ceramic-foam device, the direct depositing method was adopted. This method, in which elemental Fe is doped into CeO₂ and this is coated onto the ceramic foam matrix surface, has advantages for the fabrication of reactive foam devices. In the synthesis of Fe-CeO₂, the degree of Fe doping was set at 10, 15, or 30 mol%, and the amount of Fe-CeO₂ loaded onto the foam matrix surface was fixed at 30 wt%. A 3kWth sun-simulator was used as the heat source in the thermochemical two-step water-splitting cycle for hydrogen production. The thermal reduction step for releasing oxygen was conducted at an operating temperature of 1400°C for 45 minutes, and the subsequent water-decomposition step for producing hydrogen was carried out at 1200°C for 60 minutes. The performance of the newly developed Fe-CeO₂ foam device was compared with that of previously tested foam devices fabricated by the co-precipitation method and the spin-coating method.