abstract
Ceria-based materials were prepared by freeze-drying precursor route and calcined at low temperature to obtain nanometric powders. Sintered pellets were prepared after calcining cylindrical discs at 1400-1600 degrees C. The addition of small amounts of cobalt to the starting powders allowed us to obtain dense samples at temperatures as low as 1000 degrees C. The effect of temperature in cobalt-doped samples was also analyzed after sintering at 1150 and 1500 degrees C. Symmetrical Pt-electrodes were placed on both surfaces of the samples and impedance spectroscopy was used to study the electrode polarization in the temperature range of 500-1000 degrees C. Estimation of p-type electronic contribution was provided by the ion-blocking/Hebb-Wagner technique under oxidizing conditions. The results revealed that the addition of cobalt produce an important decrease in the electrode polarization, probably due to the onset of significant p-type electronic conductivity, thus extending the effective location of electrode reaction from triple metal-ceramic-gas contacts to larger interfaces. Other results showed certain correlations between the grain boundary behaviour and electrode polarization for samples with and without the sintering aid. The increase of the sintering temperature spoils the positive effects of the sintering additive on grain boundary conductivity and causes higher electrode polarization. Furthermore, the decrease of the lanthanide additive content also harms the ionic grain boundary conduction and the electrode polarization. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
keywords
DOPED CERIA ELECTROLYTES; OXIDE FUEL-CELLS; COMPOSITE CATHODES; ELECTROCHEMICAL PERFORMANCE; REDUCING CONDITIONS; CONDUCTIVITY; CERAMICS; ZIRCONIA; CE1-XGDXO2-DELTA; IMPEDANCE
subject category
Chemistry; Materials Science; Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering
authors
Perez-Coll, D; Ruiz-Morales, JC; Marrero-Lopez, D; Nunez, P; Frade, JR
our authors
acknowledgements
The work was sponsored by the Spanish Research Program (MAT2004-3856) and FC7, Portugal (Project REEQ/710/CTNV2005-Ecofuels). Two of the authors (D.P.-C. and D.M.-L) wish to thank to the Canary Island Government for financial support (