TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigation of transition metal-doped BaCe0.8Y0.2O3-δ cathodes for protonic ceramic fuel cells
T2 - microstructural and electrical properties
AU - Sultan, Amir
AU - Gogacz, Michał
AU - Lach, Jakub
AU - Baker, Richard T.
AU - Khalid, Muhammad Ali
AU - Ling, Yihan
AU - Zheng, Kun
N1 - Funding: This work was supported by the research project within the program „Excellence Initiative – Research University” for the AGH University of Krakow. Amir Sultan would like to thank the support from the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange NAWA under the Programme STER-Internationalization of Doctoral School, Project no BPI/STE/2023/1/00027/U/00001.
PY - 2025/4/4
Y1 - 2025/4/4
N2 - Protonic ceramic cathodes have emerged as a vital component for enhancing the efficiency and performance of protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) due to their excellent protonic conductivity and intermediate operation temperature. In this work, the doping effect of transition metals in BaCe0.8X0.1Y0.1O3-δ (X = Ni, Co, and Cu, BCXY) perovskites was systematically investigated. The phase analysis via X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed the development of single-phase perovskite for all doped samples. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to examine the surface morphology, revealing clear and well-defined crystallites. TEM mapping further demonstrated the uniform dispersion of dopants, indicating successful synthesis. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) further validates the elemental composition and purity of the samples. The lowest area-specific resistance (ASR) values were obtained for BCCuY at 750 °C, measuring 0.21 Ω·cm2 in dry air and 0.17 Ω·cm2 in wet air. The activation energies in wet air atmosphere were found to be in the order of BCCuY (0.64 eV) < BCCoY (0.76 eV) < BCNiY (1.12 eV), within the temperature range of 600 to 750 °C, suggesting that BCCuY has the lowest activation energy and potentially better catalytic activity in these conditions. Considering these results, BCCuY perovskite shows promise as a protonic ceramic cathode for PCFCs. The long-term chemical compatibility evaluation was performed at 800 °C for 100 hrs, which showed that all three electrode materials are chemically compatible with BCZY electrolyte. This work shows the strategy of doping transition metals in BaCeO3-δ-type oxides could be of great interest for the successful development of novel oxygen electrodes for PCFCs.
AB - Protonic ceramic cathodes have emerged as a vital component for enhancing the efficiency and performance of protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) due to their excellent protonic conductivity and intermediate operation temperature. In this work, the doping effect of transition metals in BaCe0.8X0.1Y0.1O3-δ (X = Ni, Co, and Cu, BCXY) perovskites was systematically investigated. The phase analysis via X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed the development of single-phase perovskite for all doped samples. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to examine the surface morphology, revealing clear and well-defined crystallites. TEM mapping further demonstrated the uniform dispersion of dopants, indicating successful synthesis. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) further validates the elemental composition and purity of the samples. The lowest area-specific resistance (ASR) values were obtained for BCCuY at 750 °C, measuring 0.21 Ω·cm2 in dry air and 0.17 Ω·cm2 in wet air. The activation energies in wet air atmosphere were found to be in the order of BCCuY (0.64 eV) < BCCoY (0.76 eV) < BCNiY (1.12 eV), within the temperature range of 600 to 750 °C, suggesting that BCCuY has the lowest activation energy and potentially better catalytic activity in these conditions. Considering these results, BCCuY perovskite shows promise as a protonic ceramic cathode for PCFCs. The long-term chemical compatibility evaluation was performed at 800 °C for 100 hrs, which showed that all three electrode materials are chemically compatible with BCZY electrolyte. This work shows the strategy of doping transition metals in BaCeO3-δ-type oxides could be of great interest for the successful development of novel oxygen electrodes for PCFCs.
KW - Protonic ceramic fuel cells
KW - Oxygen electrode
KW - Proton-conducting
KW - Transition metal-doping in BaCe0.8Y0.2O3-δ
U2 - 10.1016/j.electacta.2025.146127
DO - 10.1016/j.electacta.2025.146127
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105001838390
SN - 0013-4686
VL - 525
JO - Electrochimica Acta
JF - Electrochimica Acta
M1 - 146127
ER -