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Synthesis and characterization of ZnO/samarium-doped ceria nanocomposites for solid oxide fuel cell applications

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Abstract

In this work, we prepare samarium-doped ceria (SDC) nanocomposite electrolytes by the co-precipitation method with different ZnO:SDC weight ratios for solid oxide fuel cell application. The physicochemical characterization of the nanocomposite electrolytes is carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is performed to measure the electrical properties of the electrolytes, and the results show that the optimum composition of ZnO (x = 0.2) nanocomposite demonstrates a better ionic conductivity ~ 0.1–0.7 S/cm at 350–700 °C. The fuel cell performance of the ZnO/SDC nanocomposite electrolytes is measured with hydrogen as the fuel. The as-synthesized nanocomposite material with ZnO (x = 0.2) also exhibits a power density of 804 mW/cm2 along with a maximum open-circuit voltage (OCV) of 1.10 V at 700 °C.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Prof. Ding Xi Feng for the help on EIS measurements from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710072, People’s Republic of China

    Saddam Hussain & Yangping Li

  2. State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Centre for Nano Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710072, People’s Republic of China

    Ali Mustehsin

  3. Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Akbar Ali & Khalid Hussain Thebo

  4. Science and Technology On Thermostructural Composite Materials Laboratory, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710072, People’s Republic of China

    Zeeshan Ali

  5. Department of Space Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, 54590, Pakistan

    Sabir Hussain

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  1. Saddam Hussain
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  3. Ali Mustehsin
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Correspondence to Saddam Hussain or Yangping Li.

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Hussain, S., Li, Y., Mustehsin, A. et al. Synthesis and characterization of ZnO/samarium-doped ceria nanocomposites for solid oxide fuel cell applications. Ionics 27, 4849–4857 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-021-04246-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-021-04246-z

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