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An investigation and analysis of structural and electrochemical properties of highly ionic conductive La2−xSrxSn2O7−δ electrolyte for SOFC applications

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Abstract

This study primarily focused on the investigation, synthesis and analysis of lanthanum and tin pyrochlores electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) applications. Ceramic samples with diverse compositions of La2−xSrxSn2O7−δ (x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, and 0.3) were synthesized by using solid-state reaction (SSR) methods. The prepared La2−xSrxSn2O7−δ samples were characterized by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The results were further interpreted regarding the formation of high oxygen vacancy and structural disorder in the La2−xSrxSn2O7−δ matrix. The doping of lanthanum (La3+) by strontium (Sr2+) had a beneficial and remarkable effect on the structural and electrical properties: the increase in dopant (Sr) concentration decreased the lattice parameters of the crystalline phase and enhanced the creation of oxygen vacancies, which consequently increased the ionic conductivity and decreased the activation energy. Thus, it could be understood that the studied new La2−xSrxSn2O7−δ electrolyte would be one of the potential candidates for intermediate temperature SOFC applications.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are thankful to the members of the M2E platform at the Laboratory of Electrochemistry and Physical chemistry of Materials and Interfaces in Grenoble, France, for facilitating X-ray analysis and complex impedance spectroscopy as well as for providing their laboratory for experimental study. Also, special thanks to LIME Laboratory, University of Jijel, BP 98 Ouled Aissa, 18000, Algeria.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LIME Laboratory, University of Jijel, BP 98, 18000, Ouled Aissa, Algeria

    Fatima Melit & Nedjemeddine Bounar

  2. Chemical Engineering Process Development Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, 411008, India

    Shabana P. S. Shaikh

  3. Department of Physics, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose College, Nanded, India

    Manish Deshpande

  4. Laboratory of Electrochemistry and Physic- Chemistry of Materials and Interfaces, UMR 5279, CNRS-Grenoble INP-UJF, BP75, 38402, Saint Martin d´Hères, France

    Marlu Cesar Steil

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  1. Fatima Melit
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  2. Nedjemeddine Bounar
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  3. Shabana P. S. Shaikh
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Correspondence to Fatima Melit.

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Appendix

Appendix

Equation 1:

$$\rho = \frac{4 \times m}{{\pi \times d^{2} \times e}}$$
(1)

where ‘e’ is the pellet thickness, ‘m’ is the mass of the pellet, and ‘d’ is the diameter of the pellet.

Equation 2:

$$\sigma_{{{\text{ac}}}} = \frac{l}{{{\text{RA}}}}$$
(2)

where ‘l’ is the thickness of the pellet, ‘A’ is the cross section of the pellet, and ‘R’ is the resistance of bulk.

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Melit, F., Bounar, N., Shaikh, S.P.S. et al. An investigation and analysis of structural and electrochemical properties of highly ionic conductive La2−xSrxSn2O7−δ electrolyte for SOFC applications. Chem. Pap. 77, 2697–2705 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-022-02659-2

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