Praseodymium doped ceria as electrolyte material for IT-SOFC applications

Praseodymium-doped ceria (PDC, Ce0.9Pr0.1O2) electrolyte material for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs) has been successfully synthesised by EDTA-citrate method. From X-Ray diffraction (XRD), fluorite structure along with a crystallite size of 5.4 nm is obtained for PDC nanopowder calcined at 350 °C/24 h. Raman spectroscopy confirmed the structure, presence of oxygen vacancies with the manifestation of the main peak at 457 cm−1 and with a secondary peak at 550 cm−1. From Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis, the average particle size is around 7–10 nm and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns further confirmed the fluorite structure of PDC nanopowder. The PDC nanopowder displayed a BET surface area of 65 m2/g with a primary particle size of ∼13 nm (calculated from BET surface area). Dilatometer studies revealed a multi-step shrinkage behaviour with the multiple peaks at 522, 1171 and 1461 °C which may be originated due to the presence of multiple size hard agglomerates. The PDC electrolyte pellet sintered at 1500 °C displayed an ionic conductivity of 1.213E-03 S cm−1 along with an activation energy of 1.28eV. Instead of a single fluorite structure, XRD of sintered PDC pellet showed multiple structures (Fluorite structure (CeO2) and cubic structure (PrO2).