Microstructure and NO decomposition behavior of sol–gel derived (La 0.8Sr 0.2) 0.95MnO 3/yttria-stabilized zirconia nanocomposite thin film

Abstract

(La 0.8Sr 0.2) 0.95MnO 3 and (La 0.8Sr 0.2) 0.95MnO 3/YSZ gel films were deposited by a spin-coating technique on scandium-doped zirconia (ScSZ) substrate using the precursor solution prepared from La(O i-C 3H 7) 3, Sr(O i-C 3H 7) 2, Mn(O i-C 3H 7) 2 and 2-methoxyethanol. By heat-treating the gel films, the membrane reactors, (La 0.8Sr 0.2) 0.95MnO 3|ScSZ|Pt and (La 0.8Sr 0.2) 0.95MnO 3/YSZ|ScSZ|Pt were fabricated. It was found that the pre-firing temperature affected the microstructure evolution of (La 0.8Sr 0.2) 0.95MnO 3 and (La 0.8Sr 0.2) 0.95MnO 3/YSZ thin films. Pre-firing at low temperature resulted in high porosity and large grain size of the thin films. NO decomposition characteristics of the obtained membrane reactors were investigated at 600 °C in reactant gas, 1000 ppm of NO and 2% of oxygen. By applying a direct current to the membrane reactors, NO can be decomposed at the (La 0.8Sr 0.2) 0.95MnO 3 and (La 0.8Sr 0.2) 0.95MnO 3/YSZ composite cathode. By incorporating YSZ into (La 0.8Sr 0.2) 0.95MnO 3, the required consuming power to decompose NO could be reduced.