Electrical properties of nanocube CeO2 in advanced solid oxide fuel cells

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2018-07, Vol.43 (28), p.12909-12916
• Main Authors: Li, Lingyao, Zhu, Bin, Zhang, Jing, Yan, Chunjie, Wu, Yan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advanced fuel cells; CeO2 nanocubes; CeO2/CeO2-δ heterogeneous interfaces; Electrolyte
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.05.120

Search for electrolyte materials with a high ionic conductivity at low temperatures has always been a key challenge for the development of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). In present work, we found un-doped CeO2 nanocubes used as an electrolyte for advanced fuel cell showed remarkable performances. The CeO2 nanocubes were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal approach. The synthesized CeO2 nanocubes were used as an electrolyte sandwiched between two layers of semiconducting Ni0.8Co0.15Al0.05LiO2-δ to fabricate the fuel cell. Such device has achieved an excellent maximum power density of 406 mW cm−2 at 600 °C. These results demonstrate CeO2/CeO2-δ heterogeneous interfaces could provide a high ionic conductive path conductor for the electrolyte in SOFCs, which widen the selecting range of the electrolyte candidates for advanced SOFCs. •Un-doped CeO2 nanocubes used as an electrolyte for advanced fuel cell showed remarkable performances.•Such device has achieved an excellent maximum power density of 406 mW cm−2 at 600 °C.•CeO2/CeO2-δ heterogeneous interfaces could provide a high ionic conductive path conductor.•Proton surface conduction mechanism was attributed to the low activation energy of CeO2 nanocubes.