Industrial grade LaCe1.85Pr0.03Nd0.06Ox/Na2CO3 nanocomposite for novel low-temperature semiconductor-ionic membrane fuel cell

¹Department of Energy Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, SE-10044, Sweden

²Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Faculty of Physics and Electronic Science, Hubei University, Wuhan, Hubei 430062, P.R. China

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2017, 8 (4), pp 346-351

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2017.7052

Publication Date (Web): Mar 14, 2017

Copyright © IAAM-VBRI Press

E-mail: binzhu@kth.se

Abstract

Doped ceria electrolytes have attracted intensive attentions owing to their high ionic conductivity, low activation energy, good catalytic activity and feasibility for intermediate or even low temperature operations. This work reports an interesting industrial grade rare earth LaCe_1.85Pr_0.03Nd_0.06-oxide composited with sodium carbonate (LCPN-oxide/Na₂CO₃) as the electrolyte in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The ‘symmetrical’ anode/electrolyte/cathode SOFC devices are fabricated using LCPN-oxide/Na₂CO₃ electrolyte and the lithiated transition metal oxide Ni_0.8Co_0.15Al_0.05LiO₂ (NCAL) pasted onto nickel foam as both anode and cathode. A power density of 362 mW/cm² is achieved at 550 ^oC for this device. A novel fuel cell device, semiconductor-ionic membrane fuel cell (SIMFC) is introduced here using the LCPN-oxide/Na₂CO₃ and NCAL as the mixed semiconductor-ionic conductor layer. The peak power density for this new energy conversion device reaches 916 mW/cm² at 550 ^oC with an open circuit voltage of 1.05 V. The results demonstrate that industrial grade LCPN-oxide/Na₂CO₃ can provide a new approach to utilize the enriched natural resources for next-generation cost-effective fuel cells. 

Keywords

LT-SOFCs, SIMFCs, industrial grade, LCPN-oxide/Na₂CO₃.