Synthesis and Characterization of Ce0.85La0.15O1.925 Nanorods (Li, Na)2CO3 Nanocomposites as a Solid Electrolyte for LT-SOFCs

Abstract

Nanorods of Ce0.85La0.15O1.925 (CLO) have been synthesized using a wet-chemical route and characterized by thermal analysis, phase, crystal structure, microstructure and electrical conductivity. Nanorods have been stabilized by adding binary eutectic mixture of Li2CO3 and Na2CO3. This hinders the grain growth of Ce0.85La0.15O1.925 nanorods. Cubic fluorite structure of ceria has been detected by X-ray diffraction. A sharp increase in the conductivity has been observed at a certain temperature, corresponding to superionic transition at the interfaces. This composition shows the highest conductivity, 1.14 × 10−1 S/cm at 500 °C with activation energy of conduction 0.19 eV. This value is about three orders of magnitude higher than that of Ce0.85La0.15O1.925 (2.02 × 10−4 S/cm at 500 °C) nanoparticles prepared by auto-combustion route. © 2019, The Indian Institute of Metals - IIM.