Synthesis and Characterization of Ce0.85La0.15O1.925 Nanorods (Li, Na)2CO3 Nanocomposites as a Solid Electrolyte for LT-SOFCs

Nanorods of Ce 0.85 La 0.15 O 1.925 (CLO) have been synthesized using a wet-chemical route and characterized by thermal analysis, phase, crystal structure, microstructure and electrical conductivity. Nanorods have been stabilized by adding binary eutectic mixture of Li 2 CO 3 and Na 2 CO 3 . This hinders the grain growth of Ce 0.85 La 0.15 O 1.925 nanorods. Cubic fluorite structure of ceria has been detected by X-ray diffraction. A sharp increase in the conductivity has been observed at a certain temperature, corresponding to superionic transition at the interfaces. This composition shows the highest conductivity, 1.14 × 10 −1 S/cm at 500 °C with activation energy of conduction 0.19 eV. This value is about three orders of magnitude higher than that of Ce 0.85 La 0.15 O 1.925 (2.02 × 10 −4 S/cm at 500 °C) nanoparticles prepared by auto-combustion route.