CERIA-CARBONATE SOLID ELECTROLYTE COMPOZITE FOR INTERMEDIATE TEMPERATURE FUEL CELL

Adriana  BALINT (SAMOILA); Tania  RISTOIU; Amalia  MESAROS; Mircea  NASUI; Ramona  MOS; Mihai  GABOR; Traian  PETRISOR Jr.; Lelia  CIONTEA; Vasile  BOGDAN

Authors

Adriana BALINT (SAMOILA) Superconductivity, Spintronics and Surface Science Center, Technical University (UTCN), Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: adriana.balint@utcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6439-166X
Tania RISTOIU Lecturer PhD, Superconductivity, Spintronics and Surface Science Center, Technical University (UTCN), Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: tristoiu@sim.utcluj.ro.
Amalia MESAROS Lecturer PhD, Superconductivity, Spintronics and Surface Science Center, Technical University (UTCN), Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: amalia.mesaros@chem.utcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8796-4029
Mircea NASUI Assistant Professor PhD, Superconductivity, Spintronics and Surface Science Center, Technical University (UTCN), Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: Mircea.Nasui@chem.utcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4792-2032
Ramona MOS Engineering Researcher PhD, Superconductivity, Spintronics and Surface Science Center, Department for Physics and Chemistry, Technical University (UTCN), Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: amalia.mesaros@chem.utcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9684-4942
Mihai GABOR Engineering Researcher, Assistant Professor PhD, Superconductivity, Spintronics and Surface Science Center, Technical University (UTCN), Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: Mihai.Gabor@phys.utcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0888-0762
Traian PETRISOR Jr. Engineering Researcher PhD, Superconductivity, Spintronics and Surface Science Center, Technical University (UTCN), Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: traian.petrisorjr@phys.utcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0695-6367
Lelia CIONTEA Professor PhD (retired), Superconductivity, Spintronics and Surface Science Center, Technical University (UTCN), Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: Email: lelia.ciontea@chem.utcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5303-2570
Vasile BOGDAN Engineering Researcher PhD, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, "Politehnica" University, Bucharest, Romania. Email: bogdan.vasile@upb.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2267-6453

Keywords:

ceria, co-precipitation, electrical conductivity, SOFC

Abstract

Ceria based nanocomposites consisting of calcium doped ceria and Na₂CO₃ have been prepared for their use as solid state electrolyte in solid oxide fuel cells by a direct co-precipitation method followed by a thermal treatment at 700 ⁰C. The decomposition course of the precursor, the thermal stability, the morphology, and the composite formation succession were studied by thermogravimetric analyses (TG), FT-IR spectroscopy, SEM and XRD analyses. The only identified crystalline phase is cerium oxide, in which the cerium ions are partially substituted by the calcium ions. The absence of any carbonate phase in the XRD pattern is indicative for its amorphous character. The calcium doped ceria crystallites, with an average size of about 50 nm, have a uniform distribution in the matrix. The temperature dependence of the conductivity between 300-600 ⁰C was performed on the composite pellets, exhibiting an exponential behavior of the electrical conductivity with values intermediate between the calcium doped ceria and Na₂CO₃. The activation energy decreases from 1.693 eV for pure ceria to 0.79 eV for the calcium doped ceria nanocomposite.

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