Synthesis and Investigation of Novel Electrolytes for Application in Next Generation Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

About the Project

These projects are open to students worldwide, but have no funding attached. Therefore, the successful applicant will be expected to fund tuition fees at the relevant level (home or international) and any applicable additional research costs. Please consider this before applying.

Ensuring reliable, clean energy sources is one of the greatest challenges facing society today. Hydrogen fuel cells offer a real solution: the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen produces water and electricity, providing a clean alternative to fossil fuels. Ceramic fuel cells are highly efficient and do not require ultra-pure hydrogen or expensive electrodes. An important ambition is to lower the running temperature of ceramic fuel cells to less than 600 °C as this will reduce costs and increase reliability and lifetime.^{1, 2} To reach this important goal further fundamental research is urgently needed to discover new oxide ion/proton conductors with high conductivity at temperatures less than 600 °C to be used as the electrolyte in the cell.

Palmierites such as A₃V₂O₈(A = Ba, Sr) present sizeable oxide ion and proton conductivity.³ Substitution of Ti⁴⁺ and Mo⁶⁺ for V⁵⁺ enables the introduction of interstitial oxygen resulting in a significant increase in oxide ion conductivity from 1.8 × 10^-7 S cm^-1 in Ba₃V₂O₈ to 4.0 × 10^-3 S cm^-1 in Ba₃Ti_0.9Mo_1.1O_8.1 at 600 °C.^3,4 This increase in conductivity is due to the change in the oxide ion conduction mechanism from a cog-wheel to an interstitialcy diffusion mechanism of oxide ions throughout the structure. This is a new exciting direction in solid-state chemistry research.

In this project a wide range of palmierites (A₃M_0.9M’_1.1O_8.1) with added interstitial oxide ions (palmierite derivatives) will be synthesised. The electrical properties and crystal structures of the different A₃M_0.9M’_1.1O_8.1 phases will also be investigated to determine the design rules for achieving the highest oxide ion conductivities in palmierite derivatives for next generation solid oxide fuel cells.

The new phases will be synthesised by solid state techniques in the temperature range 900–1400 °C and characterised by a range of techniques such as X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and thermal analysis (DSC and TGA). The ionic conductivity will be measured by impedance spectroscopy in different pO₂ and transport number measurements.

Decisions will be based on academic merit. The successful applicant should have, or expect to obtain, a UK Honours Degree at 2.1 (or equivalent) in Chemistry or a related subject.

Informal enquiries can be made my contacting Professor McLaughlin (a.c.mclaughlin@abdn.ac.uk)

Application Procedure:

Formal applications can be completed online: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/pgap/login.php.

You should apply for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry to ensure your application is passed to the correct team for processing.

Please clearly note the name of the lead supervisor and project titleon the application form. If you do not include these details, it may not be considered for the project.

Your application must include: A personal statement, an up-to-date copy of your academic CV, and clear copies of your educational certificates and transcripts.

Please note: you do not need to provide a research proposal with this application.

If you require any additional assistance in submitting your application or have any queries about the application process, please don't hesitate to contact us at researchadmissions@abdn.ac.uk

Funding Notes

This is a self-funding project open to students worldwide. Our typical start dates for this programme are February or October.

Fees for this programme can be found here Finance and Funding | Study Here | The University of Aberdeen