Manufacturing of Pyrochlore Nanoparticles for SOFC

Researcher: Suneela Sardar

Principal Invesigator: Dr Girish Kale

Co-Investigator(s): Prof. Mojtaba Ghadiri

Project Sponsor(s): Commonwealth Scholarship Commission

Status: Ongoing (2016-present)

Abstract

Pyrochlores have been considered as an important class of electrolyte materials for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), gas sensors and oxygen separation membranes. In this research, A₂B₂O₇ type materials have been investigated as electrolyte materials of SOFC. Nanopowders of four different pyrochlore materials have been synthesised using sodium alginate mediated sol-gel process, and their properties have been evaluated for use in the intermediate-temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (IT-SOFC) applications.  Sodium alginate based ion exchange process was used to synthesise high purity nanopowders of holmium hafnate (Ho₂Hf₂O₇), holmium zirconate (Ho₂Zr₂O₇), lanthanum hafnate (La₂Hf₂O₇) and lanthanum zirconate (La₂Zr₂O₇) after calcining the dried gel. Thermal, structural, morphological and spectrscopic analysis of nanopowders have been carried out to confirm the phase, purity and composition. Microstructural and ac-impedance analyses of sintered pellets have carried out to confirm their suitability for fuel cell applications.

Publications

• Suneela Sardar, Girish Kale, Mojtaba Ghadiri Influence of processing conditions on the ionic conductivity of holmium zirconate (Ho₂Zr₂O₇) Ceramics International, (2020), In press.
• Suneela Sardar, Girish Kale, Oscar Cespedes, Mojtaba Ghadiri Environmentally sustainable facile synthesis of nanocrystalline holmium hafnate (Ho₂Hf₂O₇): Promising new oxide ion conducting solid electrolyte SN Applied Sciences, 2:541 (2020). 
• Suneela Sardar, Girish Kale, Mojtaba Ghadiri, Oscar Cespedes Structural study of holmium zirconate nanoparticles obtained through carbon neutral sol gel method Thermochimica Acta, 676 (2019), pp. 120-129.