Co-precipitation Process As an Effective and Viable Route for Proton-Conducting Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Applications

BaCe 0.7 Zr 0.1 Y 0.1 Yb 0.1 O 3-delta (BCZYYb) is one of the most popular electrolyte materials in proton ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs). The synthesizing method and properties of BCZYYb powders have a significant impact on the sintering activity of electrolyte materials. In this work, the BCZYYb electrolyte was synthesized by ammonium bicarbonate co -precipitation method (CPT), and was compared with the powder produced by solid-state reaction (SSR) and sol-gel (SG) methods. XRD results show the BCZYYb powder synthesized by the CPT method belongs to orthorhombic crystal system with a space group of Pmcn (No. 62) and the refined lattice parameters are a = 8.774 & Aring;, b = 6.173 & Aring;, and c = 6.203 & Aring;. In humid air atmosphere, the total conductivity at 650 degrees C and the activation energy for the BCZYYb powder prepared via the CPT method was 2.1 x 10 -2 S cm - 1 and 0.46 eV, respectively, as compared with 1.9 x 10 -2 S cm - 1 and 0.45 eV for the SSR method, and 1.8 x 10 -2 S cm - 1 and 0.44 eV for the SG method. Under similar testing conditions, the measured peak power densities were 0.51, 0.35, and 0.40 W cm -2 at 650 degrees C for the anode supported PCFCs using electrolyte powder prepared via CPT, SSR and SG methods, respectively, which proves the CPT method is an effective and viable route for PCFCs applications.