Recently, rare-earth elements doped CeO2 materials as electrolytes of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have received increasing attention owing to super highly ionic conductivity property. For conventional SOFC devices, the realization of fuel cell function relies on the ion exchange on the interfaces between electrode surface and gas phase, as well as the subsequent charge carrier, e.g. O2-, transfer through the electrolyte towards another electrode. Sufficiently high ionic conduction of electrolyte is requisite to achieve excellent fuel cell performance at low operation temperature. Pr-doped CeO2 has exhibited a number of interesting properties based on the flexible variable valence of Pr with various operation conditions, e.g. changeable oxygen partial pressure or supplying oxidizing/reducing atmosphere. Herein, we report the Pr-doped ceria material focuses on its surface-ion conducting properties resulting in a high ionic conductivity. The redox couple of Pr3+ and Pr4+ make contributes to the extraordinary ionic conductivity. A ‘sandwich’ configuration fuel cell device is fabricated using Pr-doped ceria as the electrolyte, exhibiting a high power density of above 700 mW cm-2. Furthermore, the mechanism for ionic conductivity enhancement is demonstrated. The above findings reveal a joint bulk and surface doping methodology for the ceria is a feasible approach to develop new oxide-ion conductors with high impacts on advanced low-temperature SOFC technology.

Multifunctional, Pr-doped ceria nanocrystal for advanced energy conversion technology

2019 Spring National Meeting

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