Chemical solution deposition and characterization of the La1-хSrxScO3-α thin films on La1-xSrxMnO3-α substrate

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2018-10, Vol.43 (41), p.19206-19212
• Main Authors: Kuzmin, A.V., Stroeva, A.Yu, Plekhanov, M.S., Gorelov, V.P., Farlenkov, A.S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Conductivity; Fuel cells; Impedance; LaScO3; LSM; Thin films
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.08.114

The development of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) is one of the priority directions for the creation of alternative energy sources. High operating temperatures of these devices are lead to the complexity of the constructions and active diffusion processes between the functional materials. The use of thin-film proton electrolytes is a promising way to reduce the operating temperature of SOFC, while the conductivity level and, as a result, the effective power, may be maintained due to the smaller thickness of the film. Based on LaScO3 proton-conducting oxides with a perovskite structure, having high chemical stability to water vapor, are promising proton electrolytes for SOFC, but they are poorly studied in the form of thin films. Lanthanum-strontium manganite is one of the most common materials for the SOFC cathode. The aim of this work is to study the effect of the La0.6Sr0.4MnO3-α cathode substrate composition on the properties, including the electrical conductivity of La1-xSrxScO3 (0.01, 0.05 and 0.10) thin-film proton electrolytes, obtained by simple centrifugation of the film-forming solution. The properties of La1-xSrxScO3 in the form of ceramic and thin-film samples are compared. The experiment showed that the films La1-xSrxScO3 at 5 ÷ 30-fold deposition on cathode substrates form continuous coatings with a grain size of 50–200 nm, which do not contain transverse pore. These results have a fundamental importance for the development of SOFC with ultra-thin film electrolyte on a supporting electrode. It is established that under dry and wet air the electrical conductivity of La0.6Sr0.4MnO3-α/La1-xSrxScO3/Pt cells is bulk conductivity and it rises with increasing atmospheric humidity, which indicates an increase in the contribution of proton conductivity. In this case, the grain-boundary resistance of the material and the polarization resistance of the electrodes are practically not realized. The conductivity of LSS films is 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than the bulk conductivity of ceramic samples of similar composition and has a low activation energy. The observed differences in the conductive properties of films are explained by the interaction of related perovskites of the scan date and lanthanum manganite. The data obtained may be of interest to specialists in the fields of hydrogen energy, electrochemistry, materials science, the development of electrochemical devices: sensors, fuel cells.