Exploring Highly Yttrium Doped Barium Zirconate Proton Conductor Electrolytes for Application in Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (IT-SOFCs)

Abstract

High temperature proton conductor (HTCP) perovskites are gaining growing attention as electrolyte materials for application in intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs). In particular, Y-doped barium zirconate (BZY) electrolyte has been recently the subject of several studies because of its good chemical stability. To investigate the influence of Y concentration on the electrical properties of BZY, BaZr1-xYxO3-δ (0.3 {less than or equal to} x {less than or equal to} 0.6) oxides were synthesized using a wet chemistry process to obtain powders with controlled compositional homogeneity and purity at low processing temperatures. The synthesized powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis. Dense electrolytes were obtained pressing the calcined powders into cylindrical pellets and then sintering at 1600 {degree sign}C for 12 h. Electrical conductivity of the sintered pellets was measured as a function of the temperature and the Y concentration by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements.