DataVXACS Applied Energy MaterialsPaper
journal article·2022-12-26Open access

Designing High Interfacial Conduction beyond Bulk via Engineering the Semiconductor–Ionic Heterostructure CeO2−δ/BaZr0.8Y0.2O3 for Superior Proton Conductive Fuel Cell and Water Electrolysis Applications

Yueming Xing, Bin Zhu, Liang Hong, Chen Xia, Baoyuan Wang, Yan Wu, Hongdong Cai, Sajid Rauf, Jianbing Huang, Muhammad Imran Asghar, Yang Yang, Wen-Feng Lin

ACS Applied Energy Materials· Volume 5· Issue 12
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Abstract

Proton ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are an emerging clean energy technology; however, a key challenge persists in improving the electrolyte proton conductivity, e.g., around 10-3-10-2 S cm-1 at 600 °C for the well-known BaZr0.8Y0.2O3 (BZY), that is far below the required 0.1 S cm-1. Herein, we report an approach for tuning BZY from low bulk to high interfacial conduction by introducing a semiconductor CeO2-δ forming a semiconductor-ionic heterostructure CeO2-δ/BZY. The interfacial conduction was identified by a significantly higher conductivity obtained from the BZY grain boundary than that of the bulk and a further improvement from the CeO2-δ/BZY which achieved a remarkably high proton conductivity of 0.23 S cm-1. This enabled a high peak power of 845 mW cm-2 at 520 °C from a PCFC using the CeO2-δ/BZY as the electrolyte, in strong contrast to the BZY bulk conduction electrolyte with only 229 mW cm-2. Furthermore, the CeO2-δ/BZY fuel cell was operated under water electrolysis mode, exhibiting a very high current density output of 3.2 A cm-2 corresponding to a high H2 production rate, under 2.0 V at 520 °C. The band structure and a built-in-field-assisted proton transport mechanism have been proposed and explained. This work demonstrates an efficient way of tuning the electrolyte from low bulk to high interfacial proton conduction to attain sufficient conductivity required for PCFCs, electrolyzers, and other advanced electrochemical energy technologies.
Source: europepmc · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗

Research context

Energy storageCeramics & glassesElectronic materials

OpenAlex topics: Advancements in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells · Fuel Cells and Related Materials · Electronic and Structural Properties of Oxides

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Engineering Research Center of Nano-Geo Materials of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of Geosciences, No. 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan430074, China

Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Solar Energy Science and Technology/ Energy Storage Joint Research Center, School of Energy & Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing210096, China

Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LeicestershireLE11 3TU, U.K.

Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Materials, Faculty of Physics and Electronic Science, Hubei University, Wuhan430062, China

College of Electronics and Information Engineering, Shenzhen University, Nanshan, Guangdong Province518000, China

State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an710049, China

New Energy Technologies Group, Department of Applied Physics, Aalto University School of Science, P. O. Box 15100, Aalto, FI-00076Espoo, Finland

Funding

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council · Royal Society · Government of Jiangsu Province · Newton Fund · Suomen Akatemia · National Natural Science Foundation of China · Southeast University · China University of Geosciences · Hundred Talents Program of Hubei Province

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