Low Temperature Chemical Precipitation and Characterization of Ceria Based Ceramic Composite Oxide Materials

Ceria based ceramic composite oxide materials such as Ce0.9Gd0.1O2-delta-Ce0.9Y0.1O2-delta and Ce0.8Gd0.2O2-delta Ce0.8Y0.2O2-delta were prepared by a simple chemical precipitation method for application in low temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LTSOFCs) as electrolytes. The precursor materials used in this synthesis were cerium nitrate hexahydrate, gadolinium nitrate and yttrium nitrate (as basic materials), sodium hydroxide (as precipitator material) and PVA (as surfactant). A mixture of metal hydroxides was formed when the aqueous mixture of basic materials mixed with the aqueous precipitant solution in proper stoichiometric composition. The resultant hydroxide mixture was washed with ethanol and water mixture (1:9 volume ratio) to remove any unwanted impurities present along with the precipitate. The purified precipitate was dried at 50-100 degrees C and heat treated at 300 degrees C, 450 degrees C, 600 degrees C and 750 degrees C for 2 h each to get phase pure ceramic composite oxide materials. The resultant ceramic composite oxide materials were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, particle size analysis and SEM techniques. From the results, it was found that the chemical precipitation can be used effectively to prepare phase pure ceria based ceramic composite oxide materials.