Synthesis and Characterization of BaCe_0.6–xZr_0.3Sm_xPr_0.1O_3–δ Compound

The perovskite type compounds of BaCe_0.6–xZr_0.3Sm_xPr_0.1O_3–δ (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4; named as BCZSP1, BCZSP2, BCZSP3, and BCZSP4, respectively) were synthesized by the dry chemistry reaction method. The structure, phase, microstructure, impedance spectroscopy and chemical stability of the synthesized compounds were investigated by different techniques. The XRD data of the materials showed the cubic crystal symmetry within the Pm–3m space group. The Chekcell and WinXPow software were used to index the crystal symmetry and space group of the XRD data and the FullProf suite software was utilized to carry out the Rietveld refinements of the acquired XRD data. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine the grain morphology and grain growth of the materials, and the SEM results indicate that all of the materials had densities more than 97% of the theoretical density. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the materials in the CO₂ gas atmosphere exhibited superior stability. The protonic conductivity was found the highest in the wet 5% H₂ in argon (Ar) gas environment for the BCZSP1 (x = 0.10) material and were ~1.19 × 10^–2 and ~1.03 × 10^–2 S cm^–1 at 650 and 700°C, respectively. The highest stability was for BCZSP4 in the CO₂ gas environment for the four samples of the BCZSP series. At intermediate temperatures (500–700°C), the materials show potential electrolyte behavior for applications in solid oxide fuel cell that transport protons.