• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2014

Mixed ionic and electronic conducting $K_2NiF_4$-type oxide, $Nd_{2-x}Sr_xNiO_{4+\delta}$ (x = 0, 0.4, 0.6) powders were synthesized by a solid-state reaction technique and solid oxide fuel cells consisting of a $Nd_{2-x}Sr_xNiO_{4+\delta}-GDC$ cathode, a Ni-YSZ anode and 8YSZ as an electrolyte were fabricated. The effect of strontium substitution for neodymium on the electrical and electrochemical properties was examined. The electrical conductivity increased with an increase in the Sr doping content, while it appears that the excess oxygen (${\delta}$) decreased. Sr doping into $Nd_2NiO_{4+\delta}$ resulted in an increase in the cathode polarization resistance and an decrease in the power density of the cell. These phenomena may be associated with the decreased amount of excess oxygen noted in the $Nd_{2-x}Sr_xNiO_{4+\delta}$ cathode.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.82-85
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• 2010

Recently, thin film processes for oxides and metal deposition, such as physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), have been widely adapted to fabricate solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). In this paper, we presented two research area of the use of such techniques. Gadolinium doped ceria (GDC) showed high ionic conductivity and could guarantee operation at low temperature. But the electron conductivity at low oxygen partial pressure and the weak mechanical property have been significant problems. To solve these issues, we coated GDC electrolyte with a nano scale yittria-doped stabilized zirconium (YSZ) layer via atomic layer deposition (ALD). We expected that the thin YSZ layer could have functions of electron blocking and preventing ceria from the reduction atmosphere. Yittria-doped barium zirconium (BYZ) has several orders higher proton conductivity than oxide ion conductor as YSZ and also has relatively high chemical stability. The fabrication processes of BYZ is very sophisticated, especially the synthesis of thin-film BYZ. We discussed the detailed fabrication processes of BYZ as well as the deposition of electrode. This paper discusses possible cell structure and process flow to accommodate such films.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.26-38
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• 2010

Degradation in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell performance can be ascribed to the following fundamental processes from the materials chemical point of view; that is, diffusion in solids and reaction with gaseous impurities. For SOFC materials, diffusion in solids is usually slow in operation temperatures $800\sim1000^{\circ}C$. Even at $800^{\circ}C$, however, a few processes are rapid enough to lead to some degradations; namely, Sr diffusion in doped ceria, cation diffusion in cathode materials, diffusion related with metal corrosion, and sintering of nickel anodes. For gaseous impurities, chromium containing vapors are important to know how the chemical stability of cathode materials is related with degradation of performance. For LSM as the most stable cathode among the perovskite-type cathodes, electrochemical reduction reaction of $CrO_3$(g) at the electrochemically active sites is crucial, whereas the rest of the cathodes have the $SrCrO_4$ formation at the point where cathodes meet with the gases, leading to rather complicated processes to the degradations, depending on the amount and distribution of reacted Cr component. These features can be easily generalized to other impurities in air or to the reaction of nickel anodes with gaseous impurities in anode atmosphere.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.265-270
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• 2014

Among the Ruddlesden-Popper series, $La_4Ni_3O_{10}$ has received widespread attention as a promising cathode material by reason of its favorable properties for realizing high performance of intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs). The $La_4Ni_3O_{10}$ cathode is prepared using the facile sol-gel method by employing tri-blockcopolymer (F127) to obtain a single phase in a short sintering time. There are no reactions between the $La_4Ni_3O_{10}$ cathode and the $Ce_{0.9}Gd_{0.1}O_{2-\delta}$ (GDC) electrolyte upon sintering at $1000^{\circ}C$, indicating that the $La_4Ni_3O_{10}$ cathode has good chemical compatibility with the GDC electrolyte. The maximum electrical conductivity of $La_4Ni_3O_{10}$ reaches approximately 240 S $cm^{-1}$ at $100^{\circ}C$ and gradually decreases with increasing temperaturein air atmosphere. The area specific resistance value of $La_4Ni_3O_{10}$ composite with 40 wt% GDC is $0.435{\Omega}cm^2$ at $700^{\circ}C$. These data allow us to propose that the $La_4Ni_3O_{10}$-GDC composite cathode is a good candidate for IT-SOFC applications.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.791-798
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• 1999

The preparation method of yttria-stabilized zirconia(YSZ) thin film for an anode support type solid oxide fuel cell(SOFC) by electrophoretic deposition(EPD) and dip-coating was studied. And the difference in both preparation method was investigated through basic understanding of processing parameters which may significantly affect weight microstruxcture and defect of film. In dip-coating the thickness of film increased with time until 30 s and then the weight of film decreased with time due to particle falling off from the coagulated film. In EPD although the weight of film increased with time and applied constant-current sagging of the film was observed when the applied current was less that 0.035 mA/$cm^2$ and more than 120 s. Since YSZ thin film by EPD on porous substrate was dense smooth and homogeneous it was expected to be suitable for the electrolyte of an anode support type SOFC.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.299-303
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• 2015

The electrolyte is an important component in determining the performance of Fuel Cells. Especially, investigation of the conduction properties of electrolytes plays a key role in determining the performance of the electrolyte. The electrochemical properties of Yttrium stabilized zirconia (YSZ) were measured to allow the use of this material as an electrolyte for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) in the temperature range of $700-1000^{\circ}C$ and in $0.21{\leq}pO_2/atm{\leq}10^{-23}$. A Hebb-Wagner polarization experimental cell was optimally manufactured; here we discuss typical problems associated with making cells. The partial conductivities due to electrons and holes for 8YSZ, which is known as a superior oxygen conductor, were obtained using I-V characteristics based on the Hebb-Wagner polarization method. Activation energies for holes and electrons are $3.99{\pm}0.17eV$ and $1.70{\pm}0.06eV$ respectively. Further, we calculated the oxygen ion conductivity with electron, hole, and total conductivity, which was obtained by DC four probe conductivity measurements. The oxygen ion conductivity was dependent on the temperature; the activation energy was $0.80{\pm}0.10eV$. The electrolyte domain was determined from the top limit, bottom limit, and boundary (p=n) of the oxygen partial pressure. As a result, the electrolyte domain was widely presented in an extensive range of oxygen partial pressures and temperatures.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.900-904
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• 1992

High temperature electrical conductivity was measured for perovskite La0.98Sr0.02MnO3 at 200~130$0^{\circ}C$ as a function of Po2 and 1/T. Perovskite La1-xSrxMnO3 system is the typical oxygen electrode in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). Acetate precursors were used for the preparation of mixed water solution and the calcined powders were reacted with Na2CO3 flux in order to obtain highly reactive powders of perovskite La0.98Sr0.02MnO3. The relative density was greatly increased above 90% because of the homogeneous sintering. From the conductivity ($\sigma$)-temperature and conductivity-Po2 at constant temperature, the defect structure of La0.98Sr0.02MnO3 was discussed. From the slope of 1n($\sigma$) vs 1/T, the activation energy of 0.069 and 0.108eV were evaluated for above 40$0^{\circ}C$, respectively. From the relationship between $\sigma$ and Po2, it was found that the decomposition of La0.98Sr0.02MnO3 was occurred at 10-15.5 atm(97$0^{\circ}C$) and 10-11 atm(125$0^{\circ}C$). It is supposed that the improvement of p-type conductivity may be leaded by the increase of Mn4+ concentration through the substitution of divalent/monovalent cations for La site in LaMnO3.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.981-987
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• 1998

$La_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}MnO_{3-\delta}$ as air electrode for soild oxide fuel cell was synthesized by a citrate process and its cathodic polarization was determinated by the current interruption method on the Gd-doped ceria as electrolyte. The addition of citric acid increased the exothermic heat for the formation of $La_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}MnO_{3-\delta}$ perovskite oxide. The degree of the initial particle agglomeration was affected by the exothermic heat. Also the increase of cal-cination temperature enlarged the particle size and the higher sintering temperature accelerated the den-sification of $La_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}MnO_{3-\delta}$ layer after its being painted on $Ce_{0.8}Gd_{0.2}O_{1.9}$ electrolyte. In this study $La_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}MnO_{3-\delta}$ synthesized by citrate process of which the molar ratio of citric acid to metal nitrate was 2 calcined at $650^{\circ}C$ for 2hr and sintered at 1100 at $1200^{\circ}C$ for 4 hrs after slurry coating on Ce0.8Gd0.2O1.9 electrlyte showed the lowest cathodic polarization.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.119-125
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• 2008

The FAS(Fluoroalkylsilane)/Nafion inorganic-organic composite electrolyte membrane was successfully fabricated through sol-gel method. The FAS having hydrophobic functional group and silanol ligands is impregnated in $Nafion^{(R)}$ membrane to reduce methanol crossover. The prepared FAS/Nafion inorganic-organic composite electrolyte membrane consist of the hydrophobic FAS-derived silicate nano-particles and $Nafion^{(R)}$ matrix showed decrease of methanol crossover and reduction of humidity dependence without large sacrifice of proton conductivity. The microstructural analysis of the composite membranes was performed using FESEM and FTIR. And the effect of the incorporation of the hydrophobic FAS-derived silicate nano-particles into $Nafion^{(R)}$ membrane was investigated via solvent uptake, membrane expansion rate, humidity dependency of proton conductivity and contact angle measurement.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.195-198
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• 2010

It has been considered to apply GDC ($Gd_{0.1}Ce_{0.9}O_{1-X}$) for low-temperature SOFC electrolytes because it has higher ionic conductivity than YSZ at low temperature. However, open circuit voltage with using GDC ($Gd_{0.1}Ce_{0.9}O_{1-X}$) electrolyte in SOFCs, becomes lower than using YSZ (8 mol% Yttria stabilized Zirconia) electrolyte because GDC has electronic conductivity. In this work, the effect of changing GDC electrolyte thickness on the open circuit voltage has been investigated. Ni-GDC anode-supported unit cells were fabricated as follows. Mixed NiO-GDC powders were pressed and pre-sintered at $1200^{\circ}C$. And then, GDC electrolyte material was dip-coated on the anode and sintered at $1400^{\circ}C$. Finally the LSCF-GDC cathode material was screen-printed on the electrolyte and sintered at $1000^{\circ}C$. Electrolyte thickness was controlled by the number of dip-coating times. Open circuit voltage was measured depending on electrolyte thickness at $650^{\circ}C$ and found that the thicker GDC electrolyte was, the better OCV was.