Alternative Strategy for Development of Dielectric Calcium Copper Titanate‑Based Electrolytes for Low‑Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

The development of low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells(LT-SOFCs)is of significant importance for realizing the widespread application of SOFCs.This has stimulated a substantial materials research effort in developing high oxide-ion conductivity in the electrolyte layer of SOFCs.In this context,for the first time,a dielectric material,CaCu_(3)Ti_(4)O_(12)(CCTO)is designed for LT-SOFCs electrolyte application in this study.Both individual CCTO and its heterostructure materials with a p-type Ni_(0.8)Co_(0.15)Al_(0.05)LiO_(2−δ)(NCAL)semiconductor are evaluated as alternative electrolytes in LT-SOFC at 450–550℃.The single cell with the individual CCTO electrolyte exhibits a power output of approximately 263 mW cm^(-2) and an open-circuit voltage(OCV)of 0.95 V at 550℃,while the cell with the CCTO–NCAL heterostructure electrolyte capably delivers an improved power output of approximately 605 mW cm^(-2) along with a higher OCV over 1.0 V,which indicates the introduction of high hole-conducting NCAL into the CCTO could enhance the cell performance rather than inducing any potential short-circuiting risk.It is found that these promising outcomes are due to the interplay of the dielectric material,its structure,and overall properties that led to improve electrochemical mechanism in CCTO–NCAL.Furthermore,density functional theory calculations provide the detailed information about the electronic and structural properties of the CCTO and NCAL and their heterostructure CCTO–NCAL.Our study thus provides a new approach for developing new advanced electrolytes for LT-SOFCs.

Highly Active Interfacial Sites in SFT-SnO_(2) Heterojunction Electrolyte for Enhanced Fuel Cell Performance via Engineered Energy Bands:Envisioned Theoretically and Experimentally

Extending the ionic conductivity is the pre-requisite of electrolytes in fuel cell technology for high-electrochemical performance.In this regard,the introduction of semiconductor-oxide materials and the approach of heterostructure formation by modulating energy bands to enhance ionic conduction acting as an electrolyte in fuel cell-device.Semiconductor(n-type;SnO_(2))plays a key role by introducing into p-type SrFe_(0.2)Ti_(0.8)O_(3-δ)(SFT)semiconductor perovskite materials to construct p-n heterojunction for high ionic conductivity.Therefore,two different composites of SFT and SnO_(2)are constructed by gluing p-and n-type SFT-SnO_(2),where the optimal composition of SFT-SnO_(2)(6∶4)heterostructure electrolyte-based fuel cell achieved excellent ionic conductivity 0.24 S cm^(-1)with power-output of 1004 mW cm^(-2)and high OCV 1.12 V at a low operational temperature of 500℃.The high power-output and significant ionic conductivity with durable operation of 54 h are accredited to SFT-SnO_(2)heterojunction formation including interfacial conduction assisted by a built-in electric field in fuel cell device.Moreover,the fuel conversion efficiency and considerable Faradaic efficiency reveal the compatibility of SFT-SnO_(2)heterostructure electrolyte and ruled-out short-circuiting issue.Further,the first principle calculation provides sufficient information on structure optimization and energy-band structure modulation of SFT-SnO_(2).This strategy will provide new insight into semiconductor-based fuel cell technology to design novel electrolytes.