OXIDE INTERFACES

Interface engineering of ionic conductor multilayer and cathode nanocomposite thin film oxides

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'European community is investing many resources into renewable energy research to come off the fossil source dependence and to reduce carbon oxide emissions. Solid Oxide Fuel Cell is one of the more promising solutions thanks to its high energy conversion efficiency and fuel flexibility. The industrial expansion of ionic conductors as commercial devices for energy production, oxygen generation or gas sensors, is related to the development of new electrolyte materials with higher ionic conductivity. Recent investigations have demonstrated an important interface effect in multilayer’s thin films with an enhancement of the ionic conductivity of several orders of magnitude. Our project intends to investigate, by a fundamental point of view, the physical and chemical bases that regulate this super ionic behaviour. We propose two different approaches to study this interface effect. The first one consists on designing interfaces parallel to the substrate by multilayer PLD deposition; multilayers will be based on different materials as the mixed ionic electronic conductor La0.9Sr0.1Ga0.8Mg0.2O3-δ, or the δ phase Bi2O3 high oxygen ion conductor. The second one employs a nanolithography method to engineer ionic conductor interfaces perpendicular to the substrate which will be formed by ionic conductor YSZ columns embedded in a second thin film. In both strategies the use of different single crystal substrates will permit to tailor film stress tensile or compressive and the relative interface defect formations. Top class facilities as Titan HTEM and LEIS TOF SIMS will be essential to correlate defect formation, strain and dopant segregation to the interface effect in ionic conductivity enhancement. Nanolithography will be also utilized to design new dense nanocomposite cathodes formed by columns of an ionic conductor set into an electronic conductor thin film. This model system will offer new tools to investigate the interface effect on the cathodes’ oxygen reduction reaction'

Introduzione (Teaser)

EU-funded researchers have made several breakthroughs in methods to manufacture solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) affordably.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

SOFCs are a promising source of renewable energy due to their high conversion efficiency and wide range of fuel sources. For SOFCs to become widely accessible, researchers must find a way to lower the operating temperature of the fuel cells to extend their lifespan.

The 'Interface engineering of ionic conductor multilayer and cathode nanocomposite thin film oxides' (OXIDE INTERFACES) project addressed this by focusing on fundamental materials research for improved ionic conductivity.

Researchers developed a method to create anode and cathode interfaces by pulsed laser deposition of different materials in thin layers. They also investigated how this technique could improve ionic conductivity.

Further, OXIDE INTERFACES studied for the first time how the atmosphere affects production of these SOFC interface materials. This allowed researchers to produce an ionic conductor that is stable at room temperature.

The innovative methods developed in this project have furthered the state of the art in ionic conducting materials. In future, the work will contribute to cheaper fuel cells as well as a range of industrial applications.