Influence of crystal structure on the electrochemical performance of A-site-deficient Sr1−sNb0.1Co0.9O3−δ perovskite cathodes

Yinlong Zhu; Ye Lin; Xuan Shen; Jaka Sunarso; Wei Zhou; Shanshan Jiang; Dong Su; Fanglin Chen; Zongping Shao

doi:10.1039/C4RA06191H

Influence of crystal structure on the electrochemical performance of A-site-deficient Sr_1−sNb_0.1Co_0.9O_3−δ perovskite cathodes†

Yinlong Zhu,^a Ye Lin,^b Xuan Shen,^cd Jaka Sunarso,^e Wei Zhou,*^f Shanshan Jiang,^a Dong Su,^c Fanglin Chen^b and Zongping Shao*^g

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* Corresponding authors

^a State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, No. 5 Xin Mofan Road, Nanjing 210009, P.R. China

^b Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA

^c Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA

^d National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P.R. China

^e Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

^f School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
E-mail: wei.zhou@uq.edu.au

^g State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Energy, Nanjing Tech University, No. 5 Xin Mofan Road, Nanjing 210009, P.R. China
E-mail: shaozp@njtech.edu.cn
Fax: +86-25-83172256

Abstract

The creation of A-site cation defects within a perovskite oxide can substantially alter the structure and properties of its stoichiometric analogue. In this work, we demonstrate that by vacating 2 and 5% of A-site cations from SrNb_0.1Co_0.9O_3−δ (SNC1.00) perovskites (Sr_1−sNb_0.1Co_0.9O_3−δ, s = 0.02 and 0.05; denoted as SNC0.98 and SNC0.95, respectively), a Jahn–Teller (JT) distortion with varying extents takes place, leading to the formation of a modified crystal lattice within a the perovskite framework. Electrical conductivity, electrochemical performance, chemical compatibility and microstructure of Sr_1−sNb_0.1Co_0.9O_3−δ as cathodes for solid oxide fuel cells were evaluated. Among SNC1.00, SNC0.98 and SNC0.95, SNC0.95 (P4/mmm symmetry (#123)) which exhibits a large JT distortion in conjunction with charge-ordering of cobalt (Co) shows the best oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity at low temperature while SNC0.98 (P4mm symmetry (#99)), which displays a local JT distortion, shows the poorest performance.

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C4RA06191H
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 24 Jun 2014
Accepted: 21 Aug 2014
First published: 21 Aug 2014

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RSC Adv., 2014,4, 40865-40872

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Influence of crystal structure on the electrochemical performance of A-site-deficient Sr_1−sNb_0.1Co_0.9O_3−δ perovskite cathodes

Y. Zhu, Y. Lin, X. Shen, J. Sunarso, W. Zhou, S. Jiang, D. Su, F. Chen and Z. Shao, RSC Adv., 2014, 4, 40865 DOI: 10.1039/C4RA06191H

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