Ceria-based oxides, such as samaria-doped ceria (SDC), are potential electrolytes for low-to-intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The sinterability of these materials can be improved by adding iron as the sintering aid. This work reveals that Fe is soluble in SDC, forming an Fe-doped SDC solid solution. It is found that the solubility is affected by the sintering temperature. Fe doping has obvious effects on electrolyte properties, including sintering characteristics, thermal expansion behaviors, and electrical conductivities in both air and hydrogen atmospheres. The conductivity obviously increases while the activation energy decreases by doping Fe. Compared with that of the bare SDC electrolyte, the performance of the single cell with the Fe-doped SDC is enhanced; for example, the peak power density is increased by 52.8% to 0.726 W cm-2 at 600 °C when humidified hydrogen is used as the fuel and ambient air is used as the oxidant. The single cell showed stable operation at 600 °C under a constant current density of 0.3 A cm-2 for 150 h. Therefore, the Fe-doped SDC solid solution shows promise as a potential electrolyte for low-to-intermediate-temperature SOFCs.
Keywords: Fe-doped ceria; intermediate-temperature SOFC; low-temperature SOFC; samaria-doped ceria; solid solution.