Effect of Precursor Grain Size on the Sinterability and Conductivity of Commercial Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia as Solid Electrolyte

Abstract:

Solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) have been receiving significant attention for future energy storage and hydrogen production applications. This research focuses on the electrolyte material which can be used for both SOEC and SOFC particularly on 8 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) electrolyte material. YSZ has been used because of its high stability at elevated temperature, excellent mechanical and chemical properties and its excellent oxygen ion conductivity. This study aims to determine the effect of precursor’s grain size and sintering temperature on the properties of YSZ as electrolyte material for SOEC. Solid-state sintering was done to transform the ceramic powders into solid compacts. Pure cubic fluorite structure YSZ was achieved by both micrograined and nanograined YSZ sintered at 1200°C and 1500°C. It was observed that the micrograined YSZ sample sintered at 1500°C achieved the highest relative density at 99.48%. SEM images showed a smooth and compact microstructure for micrograined YSZ while small pores were still present in the micrographs of nanograined YSZ. However, interestingly, the nanograined YSZ has higher total conductivity as compared to the micrograined YSZ.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volume 775)
• Pages: 331-335
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.775.331
• Online since: August 2018
• Authors: Anna Romina T. Mercado, Emmalin S. Mesina, Jennet R. Rabo*, Rinlee Butch M. Cervera
• Keywords: Conductivity, Grain Size, Sintering, SOEC, Solid Electrolyte, Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia

References

[1] Y. Yan, Q. Fang, L. Blum, W. Lehnert, Performance and degradation of an SOEC stack with different cell components, Electrochimica Acta (2017) 1254-1261.

DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2017.11.180

[2] M. Lo Faro, S. Trocino, S.C. Zignani, V. Antonucci, A.S. Aroci, Production of syngas by solid oxide electrolysis: A case study, Int. J. of Hydrogen Energy 42 (2017) 27859-27865.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.06.157

[3] D. Dong, X. Shao, K. Chen, K. Xie, L. Yu, Z. Ye, P. Yang, G. Parkinson, C-Z Li. Improved gas diffusion within microchanneled cathode supports of SOECs for steam electrolysis, Int. J. of Hydrogen Energy 41 (2016) 19829-19835.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.08.175

[4] M. Ni, M.K.H Leung, D.Y.C. Leung, Technological Development of hydrogen by solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC), Int. J. of Hydrogen Energy 33 (2008) 2337-2354.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2008.02.048

[5] J.P. Stempien, Q. Sun, S.H. Chan, Theoretical consideration of solid oxide electrolyzer cell with zirconia-based electrolyte operated under extreme polarization or with low supply of feedback chemicals, Electrochimica Acta 130 (2014) 718-727.

DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2014.03.102

[6] J. Zhang, X. Huang, H. Zhang, Q. Xue, H. Xu, L. Wang, Z. Feng, The effect of powder grain size on the microstructure and electrical properties of 8 mol%Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2, Royal Society of Chemistry Adv., 7 (2017), 39153-39159.

DOI: 10.1039/c7ra06710k

[7] S.C. Singhald, K. Kendall, High-temperature solid oxide fuel cells: fundamentals, design and applications, Elsevier Ltd., (2003).

[8] B. Yu, W. Zhang, J. Xu, J. Chen, C. Luo, K. Stephan, Preparation and electrochemical behavior of dense YSZ film for SOEC, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 37 (2012) 12074-12080.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2012.05.063

[9] S.-J. Hao, C. Wang, T.-L. Liu, Z.-M. Mao, Z.-Q. Mao, J.-L. Wang, Fabrication of nanoscale ytrria stabilized zirconia for solid oxide fuel cell, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 42 (2017) 29949-29959.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.08.143

[10] P.K. Shen et al. Electrochemical Energy: Advanced Materials and Technologies. CRC Press, (2016).

[11] A.K. Pandey, K. Biswas, Effect of agglomeration and calcination temperature on the mechanical properties of ytrria stabilized zirconia (YSZ), Ceramics International 40 (2014) 14111-14117.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2014.05.144

[12] F.R. Bueta, J.F. Imperial, R.B. Cervera, Structure and conductivity of NiO/YSZ composite prepared via modified glycine-nitrate process at varying sintering temperatures, Ceramics International Journal 43 (2017) 16174-16177.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2017.08.193