Insight into Grain and Grain‐Boundary Transport of Proton‐Conducting Ceramics: A Case Report of BaSn0.8Y0.2O3−δ

Proton‐conducting ceramic electrolytes offer great potential for the development of low‐ and intermediate‐temperature solid oxide electrochemical devices, e.g., fuel cells and electrolyzers. However, the electrolyte constitutes the main bottleneck in such devices, especially at reduced temperatures,...

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Published in:Advanced functional materials 2024-02, Vol.34 (6), p.n/a
Main Authors: Starostina, Inna A., Starostin, George N., Akopian, Mariam T., Vdovin, Gennady K., Osinkin, Denis A., Py, Baptiste, Maradesa, Adeleke, Ciucci, Francesco, Medvedev, Dmitry A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ceramics
Copper oxides
distribution of relaxation times
Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
Electrolytes
Electrolytic cells
Fuel cells
grain and grain‐boundary transport
Grain boundaries
Protons
proton‐conducing electrolytes
Transport properties
Water vapor
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Summary:Proton‐conducting ceramic electrolytes offer great potential for the development of low‐ and intermediate‐temperature solid oxide electrochemical devices, e.g., fuel cells and electrolyzers. However, the electrolyte constitutes the main bottleneck in such devices, especially at reduced temperatures, determining their overall performance and efficiency. Herein, for the first time the low‐temperature transport properties of BaSn0.8Y0.2O3−δ as a representative of proton‐conducting materials are investigated. The attention is focussed on grain and grain boundary conductivity of this ceramic material over a wide range of experimental conditions, including temperatures of 400–550 °C, oxygen partial pressures of 10−22–0.21 atm, and water vapor partial pressures of 10−5‐0.03 atm. After analyzing BaSn0.8Y0.2O3−δ with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy under these experimental conditions, the distribution of relaxation times is leveraged to evaluate the resistance, capacitance, and frequency of each electrolytic process. The data show that the BSY ceramic, prepared with CuO as a sintering additive, is characterized by three distinct processes: one is due to grain response, and two others are understood to be related to the responses of the pure and CuO‐covered grain boundaries. Therefore, this work opens a new path for the analysis of ionic, including protonic, transport along grains and grain boundaries. The concept of analyzing the grain boundary transport of proton‐conducting oxide materials under a wide range of experimental conditions is proposed for the first time. This concept is based on the measurement of electrochemical impedance spectra at low temperatures (below 600 °C) using a novel experimental set‐up, complemented by an in‐depth analysis based on the distribution of relaxation times. This approach allows the evaluation of protonic and electronic transport across grains and grain boundaries, as well as the revelation of microstructural irregularities due to different electrochemical responses of grain boundaries.
ISSN:1616-301X
1616-3028
DOI:10.1002/adfm.202307316