• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.390-397
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• 2022

The use of microwaves as the energy source for synthesis and sintering of ceramics offers substantial advantages compared to conventional gas-fired and electric resistance furnaces. Benefits include much shorter processing times and reaching the sintering temperature more quickly, resulting in superior final product quality. Most oxide ceramics poorly interact with microwave irradiation at low temperatures; thus, a more complex setup including a susceptor is needed, which makes the whole process very complicated. This investigation pursued a new approach, which enabled us to use microwave irradiation directly in poorly coupled oxides. In many solid-state electrochemical devices, the support is either metal or can be reduced to metal. Metal powders in the support can act as an internal susceptor and heat the entire cell. Then sufficient interaction of microwave irradiation and ceramic material can occur as the sample temperature increases. This microwave heating and exothermic reaction of oxidation of the support can sinter the ceramic very efficiently without any external susceptor. In this study, yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and a Ni-YSZ cermet support were used as an example. The cermet was used as the support, and a YSZ electrolyte was coated and sintered directly using microwave irradiation without the use of any susceptor. The results were compared to a similar cell prepared using a conventional electric furnace. The leakage test and full cell power measurement results revealed a fully leak-free electrolyte. Scanning electron microscopy and density measurements show that microwave sintered samples have lower open porosity in the electrode support than conventional heat treatment. This technique offers an efficient way to directly use microwave irradiation to sinter thin film ceramics without a susceptor.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.191-200
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• 2022

Na-β"-Al₂O₃ has been widely employed as a solid electrolyte for high-temperature sodium (Na) beta-alumina batteries (NBBs) thanks to its superb thermal stability and high ionic conductivity. Recently, a vapor phase conversion (VPC) method has been newly introduced to fabricate thin Na-β"-Al₂O₃ electrolytes by converting α-Al₂O₃ into β"-Al₂O₃ in α-Al₂O₃/yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) composites under Na⁺ and O^2- dual percolation environments. One of the main challenges that need to be figured out is lowered conductivity due to the large volume fraction of the non-Na⁺-conducting YSZ. In this study, the effect of lithia addition in the β"-Al₂O₃ phase on the grain size and ionic conductivity of Na-β"-Al₂O₃/YSZ solid electrolytes have been investigated in order to enhance the conductivity of the electrolyte. The amount of pre-added lithia (Li₂O) precursor as a phase stabilizer was varied at 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 mol% against that of Al₂O₃. It turns out that ionic conductivity increases even with 1 mol% lithia addition and reaches 67 mS cm^-1 at 350 ℃ of its maximum with 3 mol%, which is two times higher than that of the undoped composite.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.563-571
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• 1996

In order to fabricate solid electrolyte CaO-stabilized ZrO2 of high density sintered body economically 13 mol% CaO-stabilized ZrO2 powders were synthesized by the coprecipitation method. The characteristics and sintering behavior of fine powder were investigated. The precipitates has the specific surface area of 193 m2/g and apperaed to be fine and spherical primary particles with a size of approximately 5nm. The crystalliza-tion temperture of CaO-stabilized ZrO2 was 462$^{\circ}C$. The tetragonal phase was stable in the low calcining tempe-rature regions and the cubic zirconia solid solution was formed from above 120$0^{\circ}C$ through an intermediate stage of formation of CaZrO3 By introducing fine powders washed with alcohol and ball-milling process after calcination the sintered body was possible to attain the value of above 92% of the theoretical density at low temperature of 120$0^{\circ}C$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.445-445
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• 2008

The behavior of ion trapping and migration in the yittria-stabilized zirconia pellets following high dose ion beam irradiation have been studied using SEM, EDX, and TGA. The ion beam was irradiated at room and higher temperatures and the differences in their results were interpreted in terms of dynamic annealing effects. The SRIM calculation was also performed to explain the cross sectional SEM image of the electrolytes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.446-446
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• 2008

The effects of proton beam irradiation on the yittria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) pellets have been investigated using SEM, EDX and TGA. 130 keV proton beam was irradiated on YSZ with high doses and annealed at various temperatures. The ion conductivity was also measured as a function of proton irradiation temperature and annealing temperature and the results were compared with their corresponding SEM images and the results of SRIM calculations.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.315-319
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• 2015

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ)-based micro tubular SOFC single cells were fabricated by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) process. Stable slurries for the EPD process were prepared by adding phosphate ester (PE) as a dispersant in order to control the pH, conductivity, and zeta-potential. NiO-YSZ anode support, NiO-YSZ anode functional layer (AFL), and YSZ electrolyte were consecutively deposited on a graphite rod using the EPD process; materials were then co-sintered at $1400^{\circ}C$ for 4 h. The thickness of the deposited layer increased with increasing of the applied voltage and the deposition time. A YSZ-based micro tubular single cell fabricated by the EPD process exhibited a maximum power density of $0.3W/cm^2$ at $750^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.94-99
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• 2004

Anode-supported flat tubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) was investigated to increase the cell power density. The anode-supported flat tube was fabricated by extrusion process. The porosity and pore size of Ni/YSZ ($8mol\%$ yttria-stabilized zirconia) cermet anode were $50.6\%\;and\;0.23{\mu}m$, respectively. The Ni particles in the anode were distributed uniformly and connected well to each other particles in the cermet anode. YSZ electrolyte layer and multilayered cathode composed of $LSM(La_{0.85}Sr_{0.15})_{0.9}MnO_3)/YSZ$ composite, LSM, and $LSCF(La_{0.6}Sr_{0.4}Co_{0.2}Fe_{0.7}O_3)$ were coated onto the anode substrate by slurry dip coating, subsequently. The anode-supported flat tubular cell showed a performance of $300mW/cm^2 (0.6V,\; 500 mA/cm^2)\;at\;500^{\circ}C$. The electrochemical characteristics of the flat tubular cell were examined by ac impedance method and the humidified fuel enhanced the cell performance. Areal specific resistance of the LSM-coated SUS430 by slurry dipping process as metallic interconnect was $148m{\Omega}cm^2\;at\;750^{\circ}C$ and then decreased to $148m{\Omega}cm^2$ after 450hr. On the other hand, the LSM-coated Fecralloy by slurry dipping process showed a high area specific resistance.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.241.1-241.1
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• 2011

Numerous possible applications for $ZrO_2$ nanotubes exist such as for catalyst support structures, for sensing or for applications as a solid state electrolyte. Especially, because of a large specific surface area, high efficiency for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) application at low temperature can be expected for nanotublar structures in even small size. A zirconium precursor, Tetrakis (ethylmethylamino) zirconium, TEMAZr and $H_2O$ oxidant were used to deposit$ZrO_2$ thin films on an anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) templates having sub-100nm cylindrical pores by atomic layer deposition (ALD) in the temperature range of 150~250$^{\circ}C$. The crystalline structures of as-prepared and post-annealed $ZrO_2$ nanotubes were characterized by x-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The as-prepared samples at $150^{\circ}C$ and $200^{\circ}C$ were showed amorphous, whereas a mixed phase of tetragonal, monoclinic and amorphous polymorph was observed at $250^{\circ}C$. In the bulk, zirconia remains monoclinic phase up to $1,175^{\circ}C$, however, $ZrO_2$ nanotubes were showed tetragonal phase upon post thermal treatments merely at $400^{\circ}C$. This trend may be indicative of high-curvature surfaces of nanotubes and thereby the presence of intrinsic compressive strain. The amount of amorphous structures in the mixed phase as well as as-grown $ZrO_2$ nanotubes were also gradually decreased by subsequent heat treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.44 no.12
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• pp.690-695
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• 2007

Scandia stabilized zirconia (ScSZ) is adapted for electrolyte material of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) because of its high ionic conductivity and chemical stability. ScMnSZ1 powder having a composition of $((ZrO_2)_{0.89}(Sc_2O_3)_{0.1}(MnO_2)_{0.01})$ is synthesized by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) method. Porous ScMnSZ1 powder is obtained by using a pore forming agent. Microstructure and morphology, particle size distribution of porous powder synthesized with 3wt% pore forming agent are investigated. Sintered ScMnSZ1 sample with ground fine powder are also investigated their microstructure and electrical conductivity. The electrical conductivity of sintered ScMnSZ1 samples with ground fine powder was 0.082 S/cm, 0.127 S/cm and 0.249 S/cm at $750^{\circ}C$, $800^{\circ}C$ and $900^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.487-492
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• 2011

The effect of the application of lanthanum strontrium manganite and yttria-stabilized zirconia (LSM-YSZ) nano-composite fabricated by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) as a cathode of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is studied. A gradient-structure thin-film cathode composed of 1 micron-thick LSM-YSZ deposited at an ambient pressure ($P_{amb}$) of 200 mTorr; 2 micron-thick LSM-YSZ deposited at a $P_{amb}$ of 300 mTorr; and 2 micron-thick lanthanum strontium cobaltite (LSC) current collecting layer was fabricated on an anode-supported SOFC with an ~8 micron-thick YSZ electrolyte. In comparison with a 1 micron-thick nano-structure single-phase LSM cathode fabricated by PLD, it was obviously effective to increase triple phase boundaries (TPB) over the whole thickness of the cathode layer by employing the composite and increasing the physical thickness of the cathode. Both polarization and ohmic resistances of the cell were significantly reduced and the power output of the cell was improved by a factor of 1.6.