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Electrical conductivity of titanium pyrophosphate between 100 and 400 °C: effect of sintering temperature and phosphorus content

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Abstract

The synthesis of titanium pyrophosphate is carried out, and the material is sintered at different temperatures between 370 and 970 °C. Yttrium is added during the synthesis to act as acceptor dopant, but it is mainly present in the material in secondary phases. The conductivity is studied systematically as a function of sintering temperature, pH2O, pO2, and temperature (100–400 °C). Loss of phosphorus upon sintering above 580–600 °C is confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy and combined thermogravimetry and mass spectrometry. The conductivity decreases with increasing sintering temperature and decreasing phosphorus content. The highest conductivity is 5.3 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 140 °C in wet air (pH2O = 0.22 atm) after sintering at 370 °C. The conductivity is higher in wet atmospheres than in dry atmospheres. The proton conduction mechanism is discussed, and the conductivity is attributed to an amorphous secondary phase at the grain boundaries, associated with the presence of excess phosphorus in the samples. A contribution to the conductivity by point defects in the bulk may explain the conductivity trend in dry air and the difference in conductivity between oxidizing and reducing atmospheres at 300–390 °C. Slow loss of phosphorus by evaporation over time and changes in the distribution of the amorphous phase during testing are suggested as causes of conductivity degradation above 220 °C.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by The Catalysis for Sustainable Energy (CASE) initiative funded by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation. Special thanks to Laila Grahl-Madsen at IRD A/S for the generous supply of PEM CCB electrodes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Technical University of Denmark, Frederiksborgvej 399, P.O. Box 49, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Alberto Lapina, Christodoulos Chatzichristodoulou, Jonathan Hallinder, Peter Holtappels & Mogens Mogensen

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  1. Alberto Lapina
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  2. Christodoulos Chatzichristodoulou
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  3. Jonathan Hallinder
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  4. Peter Holtappels
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  5. Mogens Mogensen
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Correspondence to Alberto Lapina.

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Lapina, A., Chatzichristodoulou, C., Hallinder, J. et al. Electrical conductivity of titanium pyrophosphate between 100 and 400 °C: effect of sintering temperature and phosphorus content. J Solid State Electrochem 18, 39–47 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-013-2225-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-013-2225-x

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