A.C. conductivity of BaCe0.54Zr0.36Y0.1O3-δ electrolyte in dry and wet nitrogen atmospheres

• Main Authors: Affandi, N.S.M (Author), Andas J. (Author), Hassan, O.H (Author), Mayappan R. (Author), Osman, N. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Institute of Physics Inc. 2018
• Subjects: BaCe0.54Zr0.36Y0.1O2.95; electrical conductivity; wet nitrogen
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher; View in Scopus
• ISBN: 0094243X (ISSN); 9780735417557 (ISBN)
• DOI: 10.1063/1.5066974

Y3+-doped Ba(Ce,Zr)O3 (BCZY) material has shown excellent characteristics as a proton conductor for solid oxide fuel cell at intermediate temperatures. However, properties of this material such as conductivity and chemical stability are dependent on it working atmospheres. Thus, this work is conducted to investigate the influence of different atmospheres on the electrical properties of BCZY. A single-phase BCZY powder was successfully synthesized via a sol-gel method and then pressed into a pellet form. In order to achieve density> 90%, the acquired pellet was subjected to a two-step sintering (TSS) technique. The morphology and electrical conductivity of the BCZY pellet was characterized by means of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Impedance Spectroscopy (IS), respectively. The SEM measurement revealed the dense pellet has homogenous grain with sub-micron size. In wet N2 atmosphere, the conductivity of the sample was found to be in the range of 10-3 S cm-1 at 500 °C to 700 °C and 10-2 at 800°C with activation energy (Ea) of 0.79 eV. While in dry N2, the conductivity of the sample was found to be in the range of 10-4 S cm-1 at 500 °C to 600 °C and 10-3 at 700°C to 800°C with activation energy (Ea) of 1.39 eV. Thus, types of charge carriers in this BCZY material are greatly depending on the atmosphere conditions. © 2018 Author(s).