膜科学与技术

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Study on microstructure regulation and performance enhancement of Sc/Bi
co-doped YSZ electrolyte membranes

Authors： XIA Haojun， JIN Zhihao， CHEN Xianfu， QIU Minghui， FAN Yiqun

Units： State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China

KeyWords： elemental doping; tape-casting; YSZ electrolyte membranes

ClassificationCode：TQ174

year,volume(issue):pagination： 2025,45(6):70-79

Abstract：

To enhance the performance of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte membranes in intermediate-temperature solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs), this study employed a co-doping strategy with Sc and Bi, combined with the tape-casting process, to synergistically regulate the densification behavior and electrochemical performance of YSZ electrolyte membranes. By regulating the Sc/Bi doping ratio and total doping concentration, the effects on sintering characteristics, microstructure and ionic conductivity of the electrolyte membranes were systematically investigated. The results demonstrated that at a Sc/Bi ratio of 6∶4 and a total doping concentration of 10%, the electrolyte membrane achieved a highly dense structure with a relative density exceeding 96% after sintering at 1 400 ℃, along with outstanding oxygen-ion conductivity in the temperature range of 600~800 ℃ (reaching 5.35×10-2 S/cm at 800 ℃). XPS analysis revealed that this doping system significantly enhanced the content of oxygen vacancies and O-H groups, thereby optimizing oxygen-ion transport pathways. In addition, the tape-casting process further reduced grain boundary resistance by mitigating Bi segregation near grain boundaries, resulting in a relatively low activation energy (0.52 eV). In conclusion, the strategy of Sc/Bi co-doping combined with tape-casting proposed in this work effectively addresses the performance limitations of conventional YSZ electrolytes under intermediate temperatures, offering a feasible new pathway and material support for the development of intermediate-temperature SOEC electrolytes.

Funds：

国家自然科学基金（U22A20410）

AuthorIntro：

夏豪骏（1999-），男，江苏常州人，硕士研究生，主要研究方向为膜材料应用与研究.

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