Lowering the Sintering Temperature of Low-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells with Sm3+ And Nd3+ Co-Doped Ceria Electrolyte

Low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell with co-doped ceria electrolyte is a promising high efficient and cost-effective power conversion device, which needs rapid progress. One of the main issues is high sintering temperatures (1500-1600 degrees C), increasing difficulty and cost in the cell fabrication process. To lower the sintering temperature, Fe has been evaluated as a sintering aid for Sm3+ and Nd3+ co-doped ceria electrolyte. The reduction in sintering temperature between Sm0.1Nd0.1Ce0.79Fe0.01O2-delta andSm(0.1)Nd(0.1)Ce(0.79)Fe(0.01)O(2-delta) is as much as 250 degrees C. The Sm(0.1)Nd(0.1)Ce(0.79)Fe(0.01)O(2-delta)sintered at an optimal sintering temperature of 1250 degrees C exhibits the highest grain-boundary conductivity and relative density, which is much higher than that of Sm0.1Nd0.1Ce0.79Fe0.01O2-delta. The doping of Fe increases both bulk conductivity and grain boundary conductivity of the SNDC electrolyte. An integrated single cell witSm(0.1)Nd(0.1)Ce(0.79)Fe(0.01)O(2-delta) electrolyte exhibits a high maximum power density of 458 mWcm(-2) at 650 degrees C, which is 20-30% higher than previous reports.