Designing Proton Conducting Electrolytes for Low-Temperature Ceramic Fuel Cells

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) can be made to last longer and perform better if their operating temperatures are lowered. Traditional SOFCs, however, have poor performance at low temperatures due to significant Ohmic and polarization losses. Regarding ionic conductivity, doped ceria excels as a low-temperature SOFC catalyst. In this study, Bi-doped CeO2 (Bi0.1Ce0.9O2) has been used to function as an electrolyte in low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs). The Bi-CeO2 is prepared as a functional electrolyte layer placed between two symmetrical porous electrodes NCAL (Ni0.8Co0.15Al0.05LiO2-delta) by a wet chemical coprecipitation process. Using Na2Co3 as a precipitating agent enhances the performance of the produced Bi-CeO2 particles by enhancing their surface characteristics. The synthesized Bi-CeO2 electrolyte demonstrates an impressive fuel cell performance with a high ionic conductivity of 0.192 S/cm at a low temperature of 520 degrees C. Additionally, Bi-doped CeO2 demonstrates remarkable proton performance, with 660 mW/cm(2) and an activation energy of only 0.456 eV at 520 degrees C. The mechanism of high conduction was proposed in great detail. The findings demonstrate that high ionic and proton conductivity in fuel cells is possible at low temperatures. In addition, the suggested work hints at the possibility of designing well-functioning electrolytes for advancing low-temperature fuel-cell technology.