Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2012, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (01): 95-99.doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB201111161

• ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND NEW ENERGY • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Preparation, Structure and Properties of Pr1.2Sr0.8NiO4 Cathode Materials for Intermediate-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

YANG Jun-Fang1, CHENG Ji-Gui1, FAN Yu-Meng1, WANG Rui1, GAO Jian-Feng2   

  1. 1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, P. R. China;
    2. Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P. R. China
  • Received:2011-07-29 Revised:2011-10-28 Published:2011-12-29
  • Contact: CHENG Ji-Gui E-mail:jgcheng63@sina.com
  • Supported by:

    The project was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province, China (070414186), Program of Science and Technology of Anhui Province, China (2008AKKG0332), Nippon Sheet Glass Foundation for Materials Science and Engineering, China (070304B2), and Open Project Program of Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Materials & Application Technology (Xiangtan University), Ministry of Education of China (DWKF0802).

Abstract: Pr1.2Sr0.8NiO4 (PSNO) cathode material for an intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (IT-SOFC) was synthesized by a glycine-nitrate process. The phase structure of the synthesized powders was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) and the electrical conductivity of the sintered PSNO samples were measured. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements of the PSNO materials were carried out using an electrochemical workstation. Single cells based on the Sm0.2Ce0.8O1.9 (SCO) electrolyte were also assembled and tested. The results show that PSNO materials with a K2NiF4-type structure can be obtained by calcining the precursors at temperatures higher than 1050 °C. The sintered PSNO samples have an average TEC of about 12×10-6 K-1 within 200-800 °C, an electrical conductivity of 155 S·cm-1 at 450 °C and an average conduction activation energy of 0.034 eV at 400-800 °C. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) shows that the area specific resistance (ASR) of the PSNO cathode on the SCO electrolyte is 0.37 Ω·cm2 and the ASR of the single Ni-SCO/SCO/PSNO cell is 0.61 Ω·cm2 at 700 ° C. The single Ni-SCO/SCO/ PSNO cell produces a power density of 288 mW·cm-2 and an open circuit voltage of 0.75 V at 800 °C. Preliminary work showed that the PSNO materials may be a potential cathode material for use in IT-SOFC.

Key words: Intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell, PSNO cathode material, Glycinenitrate process, Thermal expansion coefficient, Electrochemical performance