Enhanced proton conductivity of yttrium-doped barium zirconate with sinterability in protonic ceramic fuel cells

In this study, we report the effects of various ceramic processing methods with different sintering aids on the relative density, crystallinity, microstructure, and electrical conductivity of proton conducting BaZr0.85Y0.15O3−δ (BZY) pellets in details. First, the BZY ceramic pellets are fabricated by the solid-state reactive sintering by adding diverse sintering aids including CuO, NiO, ZnO, SnO, MgO, and Al2O3. Among these, CuO is found to be the most effective sintering aid in terms of the sintering temperature and total conductivity. However, transition metals as sintering aids have detrimental effects on the electrical conductivity of the BZY electrolytes. Second, the BZY electrolytes have been synthesized by four different methods: the solid-state, combustion, hydrothermal, and polymer gelation methods. The BZY pellets synthesized by the polymer gelation method exhibit dense microstructure with a high relative density of 95.3%. Moreover, the electrical conductivity of the BZY pellets synthesized by the polymer gelation method is higher than those prepared by the solid-state methods under the same test conditions: 1.28 × 10−2 S cm−1 (by the polymer gelation method) vs. 0.53 × 10−2 S cm−1 by the solid-state method at 600 °C in wet 5% H2 in Ar.