Preparation and characterisation of Nd0.6 (Sr0.2Ba0.2)0.4 CoO3 cathode material for solid oxide fuel cell applications

摘要

The single-phase nano-crystalline Nd0.6(Sr0.2Ba0.2)0.4CoO3 powder was synthesized by a microwave assisted combustion method within a very short time of 50 minutes and the substitution of Sr and Ba for Nd preserved the NdCoO3 structure. The synthesized material was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM, porosity, BET surface area, thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) and the electrical conductivity measurement studies to know the performance of the cathode material. The average particle size of the prepared cathode material was ~24nm. Both the Sr (0.2) and Ba (0.2) doping does not affect the orthorhombic perovskite structure. The synthesized nano-crystalline Sr and Ba doped NdCoO3 samples could be densified to ~97.93% of theoretical density even at low sintered temperature of 800K for 5h. Doping of Sr and Ba was improved the electronic conductivity of NdCoO3 and the maximum conductivity was attained at 600°C for Nd0.6(Sr0.2Ba0.2)0.4CoO3.