FACILE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NANOSTRUCTURED NICKEL OXIDE - CERIA COMPOSITE ANODE MATERIALS FOR SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELLS WORKING AT LOW TEMPERATURE

Low Temperature Solid oxide fuel cells (LTSOFCs) are considered as one of the futuristic electrochemical energy delivering devices because of their good conversion efficiency and eco-friendly technology. To improve the efficiency of SOFC further, research activities are being carried-out across the globe to reduce the operating temperature from 1273 K to around 873 K. For low temperature operation of SOFC, conventional anode such as Ni-YSZ is not suitable because of low ionic conductivity of YSZ. In this research, a set of anode materials, such as, as NiO–Ce0.9Gd0.1O2-δ, NiO– Ce0.8Gd0.2O2-δ, NiO–Ce0.9Sm0.1O2-δ and NiO – Ce0.8Sm0.2O2-δ were prepared by simple soft chemical precipitation method for application in LTSOFC. The prepared materials were nano-structured, porous and highly homogeneous. The phase constituents, spectral characteristics, particle properties, elements analysis and microstructure of the samples were studied by XRD, FTIR, particle size analysis, EDAX and SEM techniques, respectively. The electrical characteristics of the anode specimens were studied by electrochemical AC impedance spectroscopy at different temperatures. Among the samples studied, the anode specimen with the composition NiO-Ce 0.8Sm0.2O2-δ has shown better conductivity than other samples and hence which may be suitable for LTSOFC application.