Transport properties of highly dense proton-conducting BaSn1−xInxO3−δ ceramics

Doped barium stannate belongs to the perovskite-structured complex oxides with proton transport capability. Such objects are of high interest in terms of their application in various protonic ceramic electrochemical cells. In the present work, In-doped barium stannate (BaSn1−xInxO3−δ, 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) materials were prepared and thoroughly characterized by structural, microstructural, and electrochemical techniques. The single-phase and high-dense ceramic materials were prepared by the conventional solid-state synthesis route over the entire doping range investigated. The chemical composition of these materials was found to be in close agreement with the nominal values, indicating no evaporation of Ba-, Sn-, or In-containing phases during sintering. The high-temperature electrochemical analysis showed that the ionic conductivity of BaSn1−xInxO3−δ gradually increases with increasing the In-content without reaching a concentration maximum, even for high dopant concentrations. The relatively high activation energy values indicate that this ionic conductivity is determined by oxygen-ionic transport, which, however, becomes predominantly protonic at reduced temperatures. The determination of bulk and grain boundary transport showed that both were improved with the In-doping. The possible reasons for these observations were discussed in detail in this work. Therefore, the obtained data are important for discovering the transport properties of stannates and their potential applications.