Perovskite based materials have become an attractive anode for fuel cell due to the significant conductivity, carbon resistivity and sulphur tolerance. Doping of Ce on B-site of the La0.4Sr0.6CexTi1-xO3-delta (x = 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08) with different dopant concentrations is prepared using sol-gel technique. The synthesized material is analyzed by numerous techniques. X-ray diffraction confirmed the cubic perovskite structure (JCPDS 01-079-0183) with average crystallite size of 35 nm. UV-Vis spectroscopy revealed the red shift in band gap (2.76 eV) compared to LaSrTiO3-delta. Scanning electron microscopy shows the homogeneity 3-delta and porosity in the prepared material. The observed particle size is in the range of 50-60 nm. The presence of the lanthanum, strontium, cerium, titanium and oxygen ions is confirmed by EDX. The Raman spectra and XRD, confirmed that cerium ions have been diffused in the lattice structure of LSTO . The 3-delta La0.4Sr0.6Ce0.08Ti0.92O3-delta anode showed the highest conductivity of 2.67 S cm(-1) with lower activation energy 3-delta of 0.20 eV as compared to other three samples. The power density of 58 mW cm-2 at 600 degrees C with 0.9 V OCV is achieved for the composition La0.4Sr0.6Ce0.08Ti0.92O3-delta using sub-bituminous fuel. The observed results show that prepared material is potential ceramic anode for direct carbon fuel cell.
Funding Agencies|Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) through PIRCA [PHEC/ARA/PIRCA/20372/17]