Low-temperature preparation of BaCeO3 through ultrasonic-assisted precipitation for application in solid oxide electrolysis cell

•Precipitation factors: agent, concentration, temperature, ultrasonic was studied.•Synthesis using (NH4)2C2O4 as an agent could provide a single phase BaCeO3.•Ultrasonic during precipitation helps uniform size and shape of the particle.•The BaCeO3 from the sonication assisted route was tested under steam electrolysis.

Barium cerate (BaCeO3) was synthesized using conventional precipitation and ultrasonic-assisted precipitation. The effect of precipitation parameters (precipitation precursor, precipitation agent, agent concentration and temperature) significantly affected %perovskite formation and crystallite size of the product. Precipitation with 1 M (NH4)2C2O4 induced the formation of a single-phase BaCeO3 while precipitation with 5–20 M NaOH provided a mixed phase of BaCeO3 and CeO2. The %perovskite increased as increasing precipitation temperature; however, the crystallite size of the product also increased. Increasing ultrasonic intensity (30 and 150 W cm−2) during precipitation was found to increase the %perovskite and to reduce crystallite size. The precipitation with 1 M (NH4)2C2O4 agent, using ultrasonic intensity at 150 W cm−2, provided single phase BaCeO3 with crystallite size of 18.4 nm after calcination at 900 °C for 4 h. The electrochemical performance of the BaCeO3 cell under steam electrolysis condition (controlled voltage from OCV to 1.5 V; 20% H2O, 40% H2, and 40% N2) was measured (600–800 °C) and the activation energy of conduction was calculated to be 0.78 eV.