@article{article,
  author = {X. Chen and A. Pikalev and S. Bera and M. N. Tsampas and G. J. Zhang and M. C. M. van de Sanden},
  title = {Plasma-Enhancement of Oxygen Pumping: The Role of Atomic Oxygen},
  abstract = {Sluggish surface oxygen reduction kinetics remain a principal barrier to efficient oxygen pumping in solid oxide electrochemical cells (SOECs), where dissociative adsorption of O2 on lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM) electrodes is widely established as the rate-limiting step, particularly under reduced oxygen partial pressure and cathodic polarization conditions. While low-temperature plasmas generate reactive oxygen species, their coupling to electrochemical oxygen transport has not been quantitatively addressed. This work couples an oxygen-containing glow discharge to a symmetric LSM|YSZ|LSM SOEC to directly supply reactive oxygen species to the SOEC cathode. A 180\% increase in oxygen pumping capacity is observed at 585 {\textdegree}C in 1 Torr He (80\%)-O2 (20\%) plasma at 470 W. Open-circuit voltage (OCV) measurements reveal a shift in electrochemical equilibrium consistent with increased surface oxygen activity. A surface reaction model identifies atomic oxygen as the dominant contributor to this enhancement. These findings demonstrate plasma-electrochemical coupling as a viable route to solid oxide oxygen separation at reduced operating temperatures.},
  year = {2026},
  journal = {Journal of Physical Chemistry C},
  volume = {130},
  pages = {in press},
  doi = {10.1021/acs.jpcc.6c02560},
  language = {eng},
}