Synthesis and characteristics of densified GDC-LSO composite as a new apatite-based electrolyte for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFC)

Developing solid-state ionic conductors with desirable charge-transport efficiency and reasonable durability is a fundamental and long-lasting challenge for solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Ceria-based electrolytes, as one of the most common types of electrolytes for intermediate-temperature solid-oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs), offer a high surface-exchange coefficient and faster kinetics in the triple phase boundaries (TPBs); however, they suffer to some extent of electronic conductivity in the reducing atmosphere and gradual phase transitions. Here in this work, we have reported a novel co-doped IT-SOFC electrolyte composite combining the apatite structure of Lanthanum Silicate (LSO) with the fluorite structure of Gadolinium-doped Ceria (GDC), which showed a high ionic conductivity and a minimal electronic leak. The resulting GDC-LSO composite electrolyte also achieved an OCV (open-circuit voltage) of 1 V at 800 °C, implying a significant improvement in the OCV values reported for the typical ceria-based electrolytes (∼0.75 V). The sample was prepared using 40 wt% GDC and 60 wt% LSO (40GDC-60LSO) showed a maximum electrical conductivity of 25 mS cm−1 at 800 °C with good densification properties (>95 % relative density). The cell electrochemical performance measurement was conducted using a 3.0 vol% humified H2 stream at the anode side while the cathode side was exposed to the air at 800 °C. The interdiffusion of cations between La3+ in the LSO phase and Ce4+ and Gd3+ in the GDC phase was detected by XRD and EDX results after sintering samples at 1500 °C for 4 h using 0.5 wt% PVA or 0.5 wt% Ethyl cellulose (EC) as the binder. The proposed GDC-LSO composite could help better understand the influence of compositional constituents and processing variables on the densification and electrical properties of the electrolyte materials for the IT-SOFCs.