Sintering Behavior and Electrical Properties of Strontium Titanate-Based Ceramic Interconnect Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

고체산화물 연료전지용 Strontium Titanate 세라믹 접속자 소재의 소결 거동 및 전기적 특성

A strontium titanate ($SrTiO_3$)-based material with a perovskite structure is considered to be one of the promising alternatives to $LaCrO_3$-based materials since $SrTiO_3$ perovskite shows a high chemical stability under both oxidizing and reducing atmospheres at high temperatures. $SrTiO_3$ materials exhibit an n-type semiconducting behavior when it is donor-doped and/or exposed to a reducing atmosphere. In this work, $Sr_{1-x}La_xTi_{1-y}M_yO_3$ materials doped with $La^{3+}$ in A-sites and aliovalent transition metal ions ($M^{n+}$) in B-sites were synthesized by the modified Pechini method. The X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the materials synthesized by the Pechini process exhibited a single curbic perovskite-type structure without any impurity phases, and are tolerant, to some extent, to cation doping. The sintering behaviors of $Sr_{1-x}La_xTi_{1-y}M_yO_3$ in $H_2/N_2$ and air were characterized by dilatometry and microstructural observations. The electrical conduction mechanism and the dopant effect are discussed based on the defect structures and the electrical conductivities measured at various oxygen partial pressures and temperatures.