Structure and Dynamics Investigations of Sr/Ca-Doped LaPO4 Proton Conductors

Amal Al-Wahish; U. Al-Binni; L. Tetard; C. A. Bridges; Krishna Kharel; Özge Günaydln-Şen; A. Huq; J. L. Musfeldt; M. P. Paranthaman; D. Mandrus

doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b02254

Structure and Dynamics Investigations of Sr/Ca-Doped LaPO₄ Proton Conductors

Amal Al-Wahish, U. Al-Binni, L. Tetard, C. A. Bridges, Krishna Kharel, Özge Günaydln-Şen, A. Huq, J. L. Musfeldt, M. P. Paranthaman, D. Mandrus

Nanomaterials Chemistry Group

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Proton conductors loom out of the pool of candidate materials with great potential to boost hydrogen alternatives to fossil-based resources for energy. Acceptor-doped lanthanum orthophosphates are considered for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for their potential stability and conductivity at high temperature. By exploring the crystal and defect structure of x% Sr/Ca-doped LaPO₄ with different nominal Sr/Ca concentrations (x = 0-10) with neutron powder diffraction (NPD) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), we confirm that Sr/Ca-doped LaPO₄ can exist as self-supported structures at high temperatures during solid oxide fuel cell operation. Thermal stability, surface topography, and size distribution are also studied to better understand the proton conductivity for dry and wet compounds obtained at sintering temperatures ranging from 1200 to 1400 °C using a combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results confirm that Sr-doped samples exhibit the highest proton conductivity of our samples and illustrate the impact of material design and versatile characterization schemes on the development of proton conductors with superior functionality.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	11991-12002
Number of pages	12
Journal	Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Volume	121
Issue number	22
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b02254
State	Published - Jun 8 2017

Funding

This work was supported by NSF Grant Nos. DGE-1069091 and DMR-1508249 (A.A.W.), the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division (A.A.W., C.B., M.P.P., and D.M.). K.K. and O..G. were supported by Welch Foundation (V-0004). J.M. was supported by DE-FG02-01-ER45885. The NPD measurements and time-of-flight (TOF) powder neutron diffraction collected using the POWGEN diffractometer were carried out at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Spallation Neutron Source sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, US Department of Energy. The XRD and SEM measurements were conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (proposal CNMS2013-310), which is sponsored by the Division of Scientific User Facilities, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under Contract DE-AC05- 00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Funders	Funder number
Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences	CNMS2013-310
Scientific User Facilities Division
National Science Foundation	DMR-1508249, DGE-1069091
U.S. Department of Energy
Welch Foundation	DE-FG02-01-ER45885, V-0004
Office of Science
Basic Energy Sciences	DE-AC05- 00OR22725
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering

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10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b02254

Cite this

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title = "Structure and Dynamics Investigations of Sr/Ca-Doped LaPO4 Proton Conductors",

abstract = "Proton conductors loom out of the pool of candidate materials with great potential to boost hydrogen alternatives to fossil-based resources for energy. Acceptor-doped lanthanum orthophosphates are considered for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for their potential stability and conductivity at high temperature. By exploring the crystal and defect structure of x% Sr/Ca-doped LaPO4 with different nominal Sr/Ca concentrations (x = 0-10) with neutron powder diffraction (NPD) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), we confirm that Sr/Ca-doped LaPO4 can exist as self-supported structures at high temperatures during solid oxide fuel cell operation. Thermal stability, surface topography, and size distribution are also studied to better understand the proton conductivity for dry and wet compounds obtained at sintering temperatures ranging from 1200 to 1400 °C using a combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results confirm that Sr-doped samples exhibit the highest proton conductivity of our samples and illustrate the impact of material design and versatile characterization schemes on the development of proton conductors with superior functionality.",

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AU - Bridges, C. A.

AU - Kharel, Krishna

AU - Günaydln-Şen, Özge

AU - Huq, A.

AU - Musfeldt, J. L.

AU - Paranthaman, M. P.

AU - Mandrus, D.

PY - 2017/6/8

Y1 - 2017/6/8

N2 - Proton conductors loom out of the pool of candidate materials with great potential to boost hydrogen alternatives to fossil-based resources for energy. Acceptor-doped lanthanum orthophosphates are considered for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for their potential stability and conductivity at high temperature. By exploring the crystal and defect structure of x% Sr/Ca-doped LaPO4 with different nominal Sr/Ca concentrations (x = 0-10) with neutron powder diffraction (NPD) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), we confirm that Sr/Ca-doped LaPO4 can exist as self-supported structures at high temperatures during solid oxide fuel cell operation. Thermal stability, surface topography, and size distribution are also studied to better understand the proton conductivity for dry and wet compounds obtained at sintering temperatures ranging from 1200 to 1400 °C using a combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results confirm that Sr-doped samples exhibit the highest proton conductivity of our samples and illustrate the impact of material design and versatile characterization schemes on the development of proton conductors with superior functionality.

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