Proton-conducting fuel cells (PCFCs), which operate at lower temperatures than conventional solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) using an oxide-ion conductor, have attracted considerable attention owing to their high energy-conversion efficiency. Even with mobile protons, oxygen reduction reactions at the cathode limit the performance of PCFCs. To improve their cathode properties, a variety of functional oxides, including the so-called triple conductors, which have mobile oxide ions, protons, and holes, have been developed. Our group has focused on the excellent catalytic activity of Co3O4 for the dissociative adsorption of oxygen at elevated temperatures, which is comparable to that of Co-containing mixed conductors with a perovskite-type structure [1,2]. In this study, Co3O4-dispersed proton-conducting oxides, BaZr0.9Sc0.1O2.95, were prepared for use as composite-type cathodes, and their surface oxygen exchange behavior was investigated using the pulse isotopic exchange (PIE) technique.BaZr0.9Sc0.1O2.95 (BZS10) was prepared using a solid-state reaction method by sintering at 1300 °C for 10 h. To prepare the composite powders, BZS10 powders were ball-milled with x vol%Co3O4 (x = 1, 3, 5, 10, and 50). Prior to PIE, their specific surface area was determined by a BET method for the sample powder heat-treated at 880 °C, which is slightly higher than the highest PIE temperature to avoid morphological and compositional change during PIE. The PIE was performed at 800–200 °C under a 10%O2 atmosphere.Based on the almost constant lattice constants, regardless of the Co3O4 volume fractions, the composites were successfully prepared as a dual-phase state, unlike Co-doped BZS10 prepared at 1225 °C, which showed a decrease in the lattice constant [3]. At 500 °C, the surface oxygen exchange rate R0 of BZS10 without Co3O4 particles was 4.0×10-6 mol/m2·s. R0 was surprisingly enhanced by an order of magnitude with the addition of only 1 vol%Co3O4. Further addition of Co3O4 exceeding 10 vol% reduced R0 . This trend indicates that the optimum amount of Co3O4 provided sufficient dissociated oxygen on BZS10, which was readily incorporated into BZS10. Their electrochemical properties and detailed microstructural analyses are also discussed.[1] Y. Tomura et al., J. Mater. Chem. A, 8 (2022) 21634–21641.[2] A. Ishii et al., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 15 (2023) 34809−34817.[3] H. Uehara et al., Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 47 (2022) 5577−5584.
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