Tailoring triple charge conduction in BaCo0.2Fe0.1Ce0.2Tm0.1Zr0.3Y0.1O3−δ semiconductor electrolyte for boosting solid oxide fuel cell performance

Introducing multiple-ionic transport through a semiconductor-electrolyte is a promising approach to realize the low-temperature operation of SOFCs. Herein, we designed and synthesized a single-phase Ce-doped BaCo0.2Fe0.3-xTm0.1Zr0.3Y0.1O3-δ semiconductor-electrolyte possessing triple-charge (H+/O2−/e−) conduction ability. Two different compositions are synthesized: BaCo0.2Fe0.3-xCexTm0.1Zr0.3Y0.1O3-δ [x = 0.1–0.2]. The 20% doped Ce composition exhibits an outstanding oxide-ion and protonic conductivity of 0.193 S cm−1 and 0.09 S cm−1 at 530 °C and the fuel cell utilizing BaCo0.2Fe0.2Ce0.2Tm0.1Zr0.3Y0.1O3-δ as an electrolyte yields an excellent power density of 873 mW cm−2 at 530 °C. Moreover, the fuel cell performed reasonably well (383 mW cm−2) even at a low temperature of 380 °C. Furthermore, the 10% Ce-doped utilized in fuel cell device illustrates lower performance (661 mW cm−2 at 530 °C and 260 mW cm−2 at 380 °C). Successful doping of Ce supports the formation of oxygen-vacancies at the B-site of perovskite and adjusting the ratio of Fe in the compositions. Moreover, the presence of Tm also assist in the creation of oxygen vacancies. Furthermore, the boosting of electrochemical performance and ionic conductivity of applied materials are enlightened by tuning the energy-band structure via employing the UPS and UV–Vis. The physical characterizations and verification of dual-ions (H+/O2−) in the semiconductor materials are performed via different electrochemical, spectroscopic, and microscopic techniques. A systematic study revealed triple charge conduction in this promising material, which helps in boosting the electrochemical performance of the LT-SOFC.

Description

Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under the (grant # 11674085 and 51772080 ) and National Laboratory of solid-state Microstructures, Nanjing University for project support is also acknowledged. Dr. Asghar thanks the Hubei overseas Talent 100 program (as a distinguished professor at Hubei University) and Academy of Finland (Grant No. 13329016 and 13322738 ) for their support. Muhammad Akbar helped in the Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images assistance. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s) Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

Doping, Energy band alignment, Fuel cell, Semiconductor, Triple charge conduction

DOI

10.1016/j.renene.2021.03.031

Citation

Rauf, S, Zhu, B, Shah, M A K Y, Xia, C, Tayyab, Z, Ali, N, Yang, C, Mushtaq, N, Asghar, M I, Akram, F & Lund, P D 2021, ' Tailoring triple charge conduction in BaCo 0.2 Fe 0.1 Ce 0.2 Tm 0.1 Zr 0.3 Y 0.1 O 3−δ semiconductor electrolyte for boosting solid oxide fuel cell performance ', Renewable Energy, vol. 172, pp. 336-349 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.03.031

Permanent link to this item

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202104072806

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[article-cris] Perustieteiden korkeakoulu / SCI

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