New material for solid oxide fuel cells

A group of scientists from Ural Federal University and the Ural Division of the Russian Academy of Science achieved a balance between good conductive properties prevention of thermal expansion using cobalt. They replaced some of the iron atoms in the composition Nd_0.5Ba_0.5FeO₃-δ with cobalt, while simultaneously increasing the conductivity and lowering the thermal expansion of the material. The researchers published their results in the scientific journal Dalton Transactions.

To improve conductivity through the change in the number of defects as a starting point for the study, the scientists took mixed ferrite niodima and barium. To replace part of the iron, cobalt (Co), copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni) were added to the starting material. Complex oxides were obtained by evaporation of solutions and calcination of the solid residue at a temperature of 700 degrees Celsius. The thermal expansion of all mixed materials turned out to be weaker than that of the original Nd_0.5Ba_0.5FeO₃-δ, which includes up to 10 percent of the doping metals. To improve the thermal expansion, the material with copper was the best, and in the case of ionic conductivity, the best was cobalt.

Provided by Ural Federal University