Proton Conductive BaZr Ce Y O : Influence of NiO Sintering Additive on Crystal Structure, Hydration Behavior, and Conduction Properties.

Y-doped BaZrO , BaCeO and BaZr Ce O show high proton conductivity at intermediate temperature and are promising electrolyte candidates in electrochemical devices. However, in most cases, the present cell fabrication process seems to be unavailable to avoid the addition of NiO, which is either added to improve the sinterability of these electrolyte or diffuses from the electrode substrate during co-sintering. In this work, a systematic investigation was performed to study the effect of NiO on BaZr Ce Y O (BZCY20) covering the full Ce range from 0 to 0.

Detrimental Effect of Sintering Additives on Conducting Ceramics: Yttrium-Doped Barium Zirconate.

Y-doped BaZrO (BZY) is currently the most promising proton-conductive ceramic-type electrolyte for application in electrochemical devices, including fuel cells and electrolyzer cells. However, owing to its refractory nature, sintering additives, such as NiO, CuO, or ZnO are commonly added to reduce its high sintering temperature from 1600 °C to approximately 1400 °C. Even without deliberately adding a sintering additive, the NiO anode substrate provides another source of the sintering additive; during the co-sintering process, NiO diffuses from the anode into the BZY electrolyte layer.