Synthesis and Characterization of Gadolinium-Doped Zirconia as a Potential Electrolyte for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Serdar Yilmaz, Senel Cobaner, Emine Yalaz and Bahman Amini Horri
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Serdar Yilmaz: Department of Physics, Mersin University, Mersin 33343, Turkey
Senel Cobaner: Department of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Mersin University, Mersin 33343, Turkey
Emine Yalaz: Department of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Mersin University, Mersin 33343, Turkey
Bahman Amini Horri: Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: Zirconia-based composites with high thermochemical stability and electrochemical activity are the most promising solid electrolytes for manufacturing solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). In the present work, nanocrystalline composite powders of gadolinium-doped zirconia (GDZ: Gd 2 x Zr 2(1− x ) O 4− x ) with various doping fractions (0.01 ≤ x ≤ 0.16) were synthesized by the Pechini method and applied for the fabrication of several electrolyte pellets to evaluate their physicochemical properties, sinterability, and conductivity. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and the thermogravimetry/differential thermal analysis (TGA/DTA) of the synthesized powders confirmed the successful formation of nanocrystalline GDZ in the tetragonal phase with complete substitution of gadolinium phase into the zirconia (ZrO 2 ) lattice. The synthesized gadolinium zirconate powders were then shaped into pellet forms using the tape casting method, followed by sintering at 1300 °C (for 2.5 h). The microstructural analysis of the electrolyte pellets showed suitable grain boundary welding at the surface with an acceptable grain growth at the bulk of the T-phase GDZ samples. The impedance measurements indicated that the T-phase GDZ-8 could provide a comparably higher ionic conductivity (with 7.23 × 10 −2 S/cm in the air at 800 °C) than the other dopant fractions. The results of this work can help better understand the characteristics and electrochemical performance of the T-phase gadolinium zirconate as a potential electrolyte for the fabrication of SOFCs.

Keywords: gadolinium-doped zirconia; nanocrystalline powders; ceramic nanocomposites; synthesis and characterisation; electrolyte (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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