Journal
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
Volume 10, Issue 5, Pages 4816-4823Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b16900
Keywords
proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells; yttrium-doped barium zirconate; Kelvin probe force microscopy; scanning transmission electron microscopy; atom probe tomography; density functional theory
Funding
- Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program (LDRD) of Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC005-00OR22725]
- U.S. National Science Foundation [DMR-1255379]
- Division Of Materials Research
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [1255379] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Proton-conducting perovskites have been widely studied because of their potential application as solid electrolytes in intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells. Structural and chemical heterogeneities can develop during synthesis, device fabrication, or service, which can profoundly affect proton transport. Here, we use time-resolved Kelvin probe force microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, atom probe tomography, and density functional theory calculations to intentionally introduce Ba-deficient planar and spherical defects and link the resultant atomic structure with proton transport behavior in both stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric epitaxial, yttrium-doped barium zirconate thin films. The defects were intentionally induced through high-temperature annealing treatment, while maintaining the epitaxial single crystalline structure of the films, with an overall relaxation in the atomic structure. The annealed samples showed smaller magnitudes of local lattice distortions because of the formation of proton polarons, thereby leading to decreased proton-trapping effect. This resulted in a decrease in the activation energy for proton transport, leading to faster proton transport.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available