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Recently, Brownmillerite oxides Ca2Fe2-xMxO5 (0 <= x <= 0.2) (M = transition metal such as Co, Mo), have been drawing attention as they possess mixed ionic and electronic conductivity. Fe site of parent Ca2Fe2O5 (CFO) structure is partially substituted by Co and/or Mo as well as Co-Mo co-doping and tested as cathodes in SOFC. Physical characterizations such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) have been carried out to assess the phase formation, microstructure, presence of constituent elements, particle size, and surface area of the cathode, respectively. The Co doped CFO cathodes have better percolation, large surface area, and extended triple phase boundary. Further, the doped CFO cathodes exhibited chemical compatibility with other cell components during fabrication and cell testing as evident from SEM micrographs. The Ca2Fe2-xMxO5 (0 <= x <= 0.2) oxides show a semiconductor behaviour having sufficient electrical conductivity values in the SOFCs operating temperature 600-800 degrees C range. The best electrical conductivity, 0.47 S/cm at 800 degrees C and the corresponding activation energy of 0.17 eV is exhibited by Ca2Fe1.8Co0.2O5 (CFCO), whereas Ca2Fe1.8Co0.2O5 (CFMO) and Ca2Fe1.8Co0.2O5 (CFMCO) cathode shows electrical conductivity 0.11 S/cm and 0.15 S/cm at 800 degrees C, respectively. CFMO performed better with SDC than YSZ electrolyte between 600 and 700 degrees C although the lowest area specific resistance (ASR) of 1.28 Omega cm(2) at 800 degrees C is observed for CFMO with YSZ electrolyte. Similarly, CFMCO provided low ASR at lower temperature with SDC than that with YSZ electrolyte but exhibited lowest ASR of 0.41 Omega cm(2) at 800 degrees C with YSZ. The CFCO cathode shows lower ASR with YSZ than that with SDC for all the temperature and provided lowest value of ASR 0.21 Omega cm(2) at 800 degrees C. CFCO cathode has been tested in 900 mu m thick electrolyte (SDC/YSZ) supported solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) CFCO-SDC/SDC/NiO-SDC and CFCO-YSZ/YSZ/NiO-YSZ provided maximum power densities of 171 and 506 mW/cm(2) (i-R corrected) at 800 degrees C, respectively. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
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