• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.404-411
• /
• 2012

The reliability of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) particularly depends on the high quality of solid oxide electrolytes. The application of thinner electrolytes and multi electrolyte layers requires a more reliable characterization method. Most of the investigations on thin film solid electrolytes have been made for the parallel transport along the interface, which is not however directly related to the fuel cell performance of those electrolytes. In this work an array of ion-blocking metallic Ti/Au microelectrodes with about a $160{\mu}m$ diameter was applied on top of an ultrathin ($1{\mu}m$) yttria-stabilized-zirconia/gadolinium-doped-ceria (YSZ/GDC) heterolayer solid electrolyte in a micro-SOFC prepared by PLD as well as an 8-${\mu}m$ thick YSZ layer by screen printing, to study the transport characteristics in the perpendicular direction relevant for fuel cell operation. While the capacitance variation in the electrode area supported the working principle of the measurement technique, other local variations could be related to the quality of the electrolyte layers and deposited electrode points. While the small electrode size and low temperature measurements increaseed the electrolyte resistances enough for the reliable estimation, the impedance spectra appeared to consist of only a large electrode polarization. Modulus representation distinguished two high frequency responses with resistance magnitude differing by orders of magnitude, which can be ascribed to the gadolinium-doped ceria buffer electrolyte layer with a 200 nm thickness and yttria-stabilized zirconia layer of about $1{\mu}m$. The major impedance response was attributed to the resistance due to electron hole conduction in GDC due to the ion-blocking top electrodes with activation energy of 0.7 eV. The respective conductivity values were obtained by model analysis using empirical Havriliak-Negami elements and by temperature adjustments with respect to the conductivity of the YSZ layers.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.51 no.3
• /
• pp.224-230
• /
• 2014

Nano-sized gadolinium-doped ceria (GDC)/nickel particle-dispersed $La_ySr_{1-y}Ti_{1-x}Fe_xO_3$ (LSFTO)-based composite solid oxide fuel cell anodes were fabricated by an infiltration method and the effects of the GDC/Ni nanoparticles on the anode polarization resistance and cell performance were investigated in terms of the infiltration time and nickel content. The anodic polarization resistance of the LSFTO anode was significantly enhanced by GDC and/or Ni infiltration and it decreased with increasing infiltration time and Ni content, respectively. It is believed that the observed phenomena are associated with enhancement of the ionic conductivity and catalytic activity in the nanocomposite anodes by the addition of GDC and Ni. Power densities of cells with the LSFTO and LSFTO-GDC/Ni nanocomposite anodes were 150 and $300mW/cm^2$ at $800^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.42 no.12 s.283
• /
• pp.787-792
• /
• 2005

A symmetrical LSCF $(La_{0.6}Sr_{0.4}Co_{0.2}Fe_{0.8}O_{3-\delta})\;ScSZ(89ZrO_2-10Sc_2O_3-1CeO_2)/LSCF$ electrochemical cell with a GDC (Gadolinium-Doped Ceria, $90CeO_2-10Gd_2O_3$) interlayer that was inserted between the LSCF cathode and ScSZ electrolyte was fabricated, and the electrochemical performance of these cells was evaluated. The GDC interlayer was deposited on a ScSZ electrolyte using a screen-printing technique. The GDC interlayer prevented the unfavorable solid-state reactions at the LSCF/ScSZ interfaces. The LSCF cathode on the GDC interlayer had excellent electrocatalytic performance even at $650^{\circ}C$. The Area Specific Resistance (ASR) was strongly dependent on the thickness and heat-treatment temperature of the GDC interlayer. The impedance spectra showed that the cell with a $15\~27{\mu}m$ thick GDC interlayer heat-treated at $1200^{\circ}C$ had the lowest ASR.

• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.18-23
• /
• 2019

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is a promising carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology whose efficiency and cost primarily relies on the oxygen carrier materials used. In this paper, gadolinium-doped ceria (GDC, Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95) was added as a promoter to improve the oxygen transfer rate of MgMnO3-δ oxygen carrier materials. Increasing GDC content significantly increased the oxygen transfer rate of MgMnO3-δ-GDC composites for the reduction reaction due to an increase in the surface adsorption of CH4 via oxygen vacancies formed on the surface of the GDC. On the other hand, the oxygen transfer rate for the oxidation reaction decreased linearly with increasing GDC content due to the oxygen storage ability of GDC. Adsorbed oxygen molecules preferentially insert themselves into oxygen vacancies of the GDC lattice rather than reacting with (Mg,Mn)O to form MgMnO3-δ during the oxidation reaction.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.19-25
• /
• 2010

Composites of LSCF($La_{0.6}Sr_{0.4}Co_{0.2}Fe_{0.8}O_{3-\delta}$) and CGO (gadolinium doped ceria)-based ceramics are logical candidate cathode materials with CGO electrolytes. LSCF with perovskite structure was synthesized and investigated by Solid State Reaction (SSR) method used as cathode materials for SOFC (solid oxide fuel cell). The optimized temperature was $1100^{\circ}C$ to synthesize $La_{0.6}Sr_{0.4}Co_{0.2}Fe_{0.8}O_{3-\delta}$ with rhombohedral structure. The polarization resistance of the LSCF/CGO (50:50 wt.%) was smaller than that of other composite cathodes. The analysis of the EIS data of LSCF/CGO suggests that the diffusion and adsorption-desorption of oxygen can be the key process in the cathodic reaction.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.53 no.5
• /
• pp.494-499
• /
• 2016

In this work, the effects of different sintering inhibitors added to $La_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}MnO_{3-{\partial}}$ (LSM) were studied to obtain an optimum cathode material for cathode-supported type of Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) in terms of phase stability, mechanical strength, electric conductivity and porosity. Four different sintering inhibitors of $Al_2O_3$, $CeO_2$, NiO and gadolinium doped ceria (GDC) were mixed with LSM powder, sintered at $1300^{\circ}C$ and then they were evaluated. The phase stability, sintering behavior, electrical conductivity, mechanical strength and microstructure were evaluated in order to assess the performance of the mixture powder as cathode support material. It has been found that the addition of $Al_2O_3$ undesirably decreased the electrical conductivity of LSM; other sintering inhibitors, however, showed sufficient levels of electrical conductivity. GDC and NiO addition showed a promising increase in mechanical strength of the LSM material, which is one of the basic requirements in cathode-supported designs of fuel cells. However, NiO showed a high reactivity with LSM during high temperature ($1300^{\circ}C$) sintering. So, this study concluded that GDC is a potential candidate for use as a sintering inhibitor for high temperature sintering of cathode materials.

• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.372-377
• /
• 2018

MgO or gadolinium-doped ceria (GDC, $Ce_{0.9}Gd_{0.1}O_{2-{\delta}}$) was added as a promoter to improve the oxygen transfer kinetics of $MgMnO_3$ oxygen carrier material for chemical looping combustion. Neither MgO nor GDC reacted with $MgMnO_3$, even at the high temperature of $1100^{\circ}C$. The average oxygen transfer capacities of $MgMnO_3$, 5 wt% $MgO-MgMnO_3$, and 5 wt% $GDC-MgMnO_3$ were 8.74, 8.35, and 8.13 wt%, respectively. Although the addition of MgO or GDC decreased the oxygen transfer capacity, no further degradation was observed during their use in 5 redox cycles. The addition of GDC significantly improved the conversion rate for the reduction reaction of $MgMnO_3$ compared to the use of MgO due to an increase in the surface adsorption process of $CH_4$ via oxygen vacancies formed on the surface of GDC. On the other hand, the conversion rates for the oxidation reaction followed the order 5 wt% $GDC-MgMnO_3$ > 5 wt% $MgO-MgMnO_3$ >> $MgMnO_3$ due to morphological change. MgO or GDC particles suppressed the grain growth of the reduced $MgMnO_3$ (i.e., (Mg,Mn)O) and increased the specific surface area, thereby increasing the number of active reaction sites.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.288-294
• /
• 2007

The LSCF cathode far Solid Oxide Fuel Cell was investigated to develop high performance unit cell at intermediate temperature by modified oxalate method with different electrolytes and different pH. The LSCF powders employed La, Sr, Co and Fe oxides, oxalic acid, ethanol and $NH_4OH$ solution were synthesized with pH controlled as 2, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 at $80^{\circ}C$ Single crystalline phase was obtained from pH $2{\sim}9$. on the other hand, $La_2O_3$ appeared from pH 10. Very fine powder with particle size of 50 nm was obtained at calcination temperature of $800^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours. LSCF cathode synthesized at pH 7 showed the highest electric conductivity in the temperature range of $600^{\circ}C$ to $900^{\circ}C$ its value was 950 S/cm at $900^{\circ}C$ Under same synthesis conditions, polarization resistance of each LSCF cathode was changed with different calcination temperatures. As-prepared powder presented 2.52, 1.54 and $2.58\;{\Omega}$ at $600^{\circ}C$ with ScSZ, 8Y-YSZ and GDC as its electrolyte respectively after calcination at $800^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours.