Photo-assisted synthesis of protonated oxides for fuel cells

Abstract The absence of intrinsic protons in proton-conducting oxides (PCO) is a significant challenge that limits the proton conductivity of proton-conducting perovskites, such as Y-doped BaMO3 (M = Zr, Ce), in proton ceramic fuel cells exhibit low conductivity (10-3 to 10-2 S cm-1 at 600 °C). Here...

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Main Authors: Atif Nazar, Bushra Bibi, Chenjie Lou, Fan Yang, Fan Qi, Yifu Jing, Shukui Li, Rizwan Raza, Muhammad Yousaf, Muhammad Afzal, Kashif Nazar, Mingxue Tang, Liangdong Fan, Bin Zhu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-04-01
Series:Communications Chemistry
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01488-0
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Summary:Abstract The absence of intrinsic protons in proton-conducting oxides (PCO) is a significant challenge that limits the proton conductivity of proton-conducting perovskites, such as Y-doped BaMO3 (M = Zr, Ce), in proton ceramic fuel cells exhibit low conductivity (10-3 to 10-2 S cm-1 at 600 °C). Herein, we introduce a photo-assisted synthesis method for incorporating protons into Al-doped ceria (AlxCe1-xO2-δ, x = 0.2; M-ACO), leveraging the open cubic fluorite structure and photo-activated radical reactions. Specifically, photon-generated hydroxyl reactive $$\left({{{\rm{OH}}}}^{{{\bullet }}}\right)$$ OH ∙ and superoxide ( $${{{\rm{O}}}}_{2}^{{{\bullet }}-}$$ O 2 ∙ − ) Radicals are generated and interact with the ACO crystal lattice, facilitating proton incorporation and resulting in the synthesis of native-proton-type PCO. This process results in a protonated (H-ACO) with a high proton conductivity of 0.14 S cm-1 and exceptional power density of 922 mW cm-2 at 500 °C. This versatile synthesis methodology offers broader development of advanced PCO for energy-related applications.
ISSN:2399-3669