Electrical properties of SDC-BCY composite electrolytes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell

The electrolyte material Ce0.85Sm0.15O1.92 (SDC) powders are synthesized by glycine-nitrate processes and BaCe0.83Y0.17O3−δ (BCY) powders are synthesized by sol-gel processes, respectively. Then SDC-BCY composite electrolytes are prepared by mixing SDC and BCY. The SDC and BCY powders are mixed in the weight ratio of 95:5, 90:10 and 85:15 and named as SB95, SB90 and SB85, respectively. The electrical properties of SDC and SDC-BCY composites are investigated. The experimental results show that SDC-BCY composites exhibit the excellent conductivity and could significantly enhance the fuel cell performances. The behavior that SDC-BCY composites display hybrid proton and oxygen ion conduction is substantiated. Among these electrolytes, the maximum power density reaches as high as 159 mW cm−2 for the fuel cell based on SB90 composite electrolyte at 600 °C.