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Diego G. Lamas

Publications and source records attributed to Diego G. Lamas.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Influence of compaction pressure on the impedance of Gadolinium Doped Ceria electrolytes for IT-SOFCs

Gadolinium doped ceria (GDC) is one promising oxygen-ion conducting ceramic electrolyte for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs), due to its high ionic conductivity at reduced operating temperatures, favorable defect chemistry, and compatibility with a broad range of electrode materials [1,2]. Despite extensive understanding of its intrinsic ion transport mechanisms, the influence of ceramic processing parameters on the effective electrical behavior of polycrystalline GDC electrolytes remains an active topic for investigation [3-5]. In particular, processing steps that govern green body formation and sintering can strongly affect microstructural features such as density, grain size, grain boundary character, and residual porosity, which in turn determine the macroscopic conductivity [4-6]. In this work, dense GDC ceramic pellets were fabricated under systematically varied isostatic compaction pressures ranging from 49 to 140 MPa, followed by sintering at 1350 C for four hours under identical thermal conditions. Platinum electrodes were deposited on both sides of the pellets by electron-beam deposition, and the electrical properties were characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) over a wide temperature range. The results demonstrate a dependence of the impedance with respect to compaction pressure.

physics.ins-det↗

Toward in-situ/operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy and electrochemical characterization of solid oxide fuel cells

The focus of the present work is the development of specialized experimental instrumentation compatible with synchrotron characterization for in-situ and operando symmetric intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFC) studies at maximum temperatures of 800 C , exposed to reducing and oxidizing atmospheres, using fluorescence X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements in combination with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in the multipurpose Quati beamline at CNPEM/SIRIUS synchrotron facility [1]. Symmetric IT-SOFC are gaining importance due to their structural simplicity, as they allow for the use of identical materials on both sides of the fuel cell electrolyte; the anode, and the cathode [ 2,3 ]. The symmetric configuration opens new opportunities for fundamental research of electrode materials and improves the versatility of SOFC electrochemical devices [2,3].

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Magnetocaloric effect of nanostructured La0.6Sr0.4CoO3

In this study, we investigate the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of nanostructured La0.6Sr0.4CoO3 (LSC) samples synthesized under confinement conditions within porous templates. Using this method, we obtained de-agglomerated nanoparticles, which provide us with the feasibility of applying them in nanoparticle films that can be tailored to intricate geometries. We specifically explored the impact of pore size of the template on key parameters including saturation magnetization (MS), Curie temperature (TC), maximum entropy change (ΔS), and relative cooling power (RCP). Our findings reveal enhancements in those quantities, that are likely to be related with the nanostructure of the samples, indicating the potential of nanostructured LSC as an active material for magnetic refrigeration devices. Our alternative approach of synthesizing magnetocaloric materials under confinement conditions presents an exciting prospect for future research and development in the field.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Crystal structure, cobalt and iron speciation and oxygen non-stoichiometry of La0.6Sr0.4Co1-yFeyO3-d nanorods for IT-SOFC cathodes

Single-phased La0.6Sr0.4Co1-yFeyO3-d (y = 0.2, 0.5, 0.8) nanorods exhibiting the rhombohedral perovskite-type phase were synthesized by a pore-wetting technique. We studied their chemical composition, crystal and electronic structures, morphology and hyperfine properties as a function of the Co/Fe content of the samples. Our results demonstrate that Co cations exhibit a slightly lower oxidation state than Fe ones, resulting in a higher oxygen non-stoichiometry d for Co-rich samples. In addition, the values of d determined in this work for nanostructured samples are much higher than those reported in the literature for bulk materials. This can be attributed to the high degree of defects in nanomaterials and is probably one important factor in the high electrochemical performance for the oxygen reduction reaction of nanostructured La0.6Sr0.4Co1-yFeyO3-d IT-SOFC cathodes, which have been reported in a previous work. Keywords: electrode materials; nanostructured materials; X-ray diffraction; NEXAFS; Mössbauer spectroscopy

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Temperature-programmed reduction and dispersive X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies of CeO2-based nanopowders for intermediate-temperature Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell anodes

In this work, we study the influence of the average crystallite size and dopant oxide on the reducibility of CeO2-based nanomaterials. Samples were prepared from commercial Gd2O3-, Sm2O3- and Y2O3-doped CeO2 powders by calcination at different temperatures ranging between 400 and 900C and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and BET specific surface area. The reducibility of the samples was analyzed by temperature-programmed reduction and in situ dispersive X-ray absorption spectroscopy techniques. Our results clearly demonstrate that samples treated at lower temperatures, of smallest average crystallite size and highest specific surface areas, exhibit the best performance, while Gd2O3-doped ceria materials display higher reducibility than Sm2O3- and Y2O3-doped CeO2.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Nanostructured La0.5Ba0.5CoO3 as cathode for solid oxide fuel cells

A simple method has been used to synthesize nanostructured La0.5Ba0.5CoO3 (LBCO) powders, by confining chemical precursors into the pores of polycarbonate filters. The proposed method allows us to obtain powders formed by crystallites of different sizes, it is scalable and does not involve the use of sophisticated deposition techniques. The area specific polarization resistance of symmetrical cells was studied to analyze the electrochemical behavior of the LBCO nanostructures as cathodes for Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells. We show that the performance is improved by reducing the size of the crystallites, obtaining area specific resistance values of 0.2 Wcm2 at 700C, comparable with newly developed cathodes using novel deposition techniques.

physics.app-ph↗

Influence of particle size and agglomeration in solid oxide fuel cell cathodes using manganite nanoparticles

In this work we studied the influence of particle size and agglomeration in the performance of solid oxide fuel cell cathodes made with nanoparticles of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3. We followed two synthesis routes based on the Liquid Mix method. In both procedures we introduced additional reagents in order to separated the manganite particles. We evaluated cathodic performance by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy in symmetrical (CATHODE/ELECTROLYTE/CATHODE) cells. Particle size was tuned by the temperature used for cathode sintering. Our results show that deagglomeration of the particles, serves to improve the cathodes performance. However, the dependence of the performance with the size of the particles is not clear, as different trends were obtained for each synthesis route. As a common feature, the cathodes with the lowest area specific resistance are the ones sintered at the largest temperature. This result indicates that an additional factor related with the quality of the cathode/electrolyte sintering, is superimposed with the influence of particle size, however further work is needed to clarify this issue. The enhancement obtained by deagglomeration suggest that the use of this kind of methods deserved to be considered to develop high performance electrodes for solid oxide fuel cells.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Oxygen reduction mechanisms in nanostructured La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 cathodes for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

In this work we outline the mechanisms contributing to the oxygen reduction reaction in nanostructured cathodes of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 (LSM) for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC). These cathodes, developed from LSM nanostructured tubes, can be used at lower temperatures compared to microstructured ones, and this is a crucial fact to avoid the degradation of the fuel cell components. This reduction of the operating temperatures stems mainly from two factors: i) the appearance of significant oxide ion diffusion through the cathode material in which the nanostructure plays a key role and ii) an optimized gas phase diffusion of oxygen through the porous structure of the cathode, which becomes negligible. A detailed analysis of our Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy supported by first principles calculations point towards an improved overall cathodic performance driven by a fast transport of oxide ions through the cathode surface.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Nanostructured LnBaCo2O6-d (Ln = Sm, Gd) with layered structure for Intermediate Temperature SOFC cathodes

We evaluated for the first time the use of nanostructured layered perovskites of formulae LnBaCo2O6-d with Ln = Sm and Gd (SBCO and GBCO, respetively) as SOFC cathodes, finding promising electrochemical properties in the intermediate temperature range (~700°C). The synthesis of these nanomaterials, not reported before, was achieved by using porous templates to confine the chemical reagents in regions of about 200 nm and 800 nm. The performance of nanostructured SBCO and GBCO cathodes for the oxygen reduction reaction was analyzed in symmetrical cells using Gd2O3-doped CeO2 (GDC) as electrolyte. For this purpose, nanostructured SBCO and GBCO cathodes were deposited on both sides of the electrolyte by a simple thick-film procedure and evaluated by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy technique under different operating conditions. We found that cathodes synthesized using smaller template pores exhibited better performance. Besides, SBCO cathodes displayed lower area-specific resistance than GBCO ones.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗