Development of novel oxygen ion and electron conducting ceramic cathodes for solid oxide fuel cells

该博士项目将开发，合成和开发新型混合离子电子传导（MIEC）材料，用作SOFC的阴极。该项目将研究如何将钙钛矿晶体结构操纵成双钙钛矿（DP）和Ruddlesden-Popper系列（R-P），并将这些系列组织成空心球颗粒，从而影响氧还原反应（ORR）的活性。晶体结构的操纵将促进氧离子和电子沿沿着独特的快速迁移晶面更好地传导，这是由于氧空位沿着该晶面的排序。当与块状材料相比时，中空球颗粒将增加ORR速率和效率，这是由于较低的面积比电阻（ASR）、三相边界（TPB）的增加的表面积和较高的燃料气体可用性。

This PhD project will develop, synthesise, and characterise novel mixed ion-electron conducting (MIEC) materials to be used as cathodes in SOFCs. The project will investigate how the manipulation of perovskite crystal structures into double perovskites (DP) and Ruddlesden-Popper series (R-P), and organising these series into hollow sphere grains, effects the activity of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).The manipulation of the crystal structure will facilitate better oxygen ion and electronic conduction along a unique fast migration crystallographic plane, due to the ordering of oxygen vacancies along this crystallographic plane. The hollow sphere grains will increase the ORR rate and efficiency when compared with bulk materials, due to lower area specific resistance (ASR), increased surface area of the triple phase boundary (TPB), and higher fuel gas availability.