Síntese e caracterização de NiO-CGO para anodo e eletrólitos sólidos e base de Céria para SOFC

The direct use of natural gas makes the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) potentially more competitive with the current energy conversions technologies. The Intermediate Temperature SOFC (IT-SOFC) offer several advantages over the High Temperature SOFC (HT-SOFC), which includes better thermal compatibility among components, fast start with lower energy consumption, manufacture and operation cost reduction. The CeO2 based materials are alternatives to the Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) to application in SOFC, as they have higher ionic conductivity and less ohmic losses comparing to YSZ, and they can operate at lower temperatures (500-800°C). Ceria has been doped with a variety of cations, although, the Gd3+ has the ionic radius closest to the ideal one to form solid solution. These electrolytes based in ceria require special electrodes with a higher performance and chemical and termomechanical compatibility. In this work compounds of gadolinia-doped ceria, Ce1-xGdxO2-δ (x = 0,1; 0,2 and 0,3), used as electrolytes, were synthesized by polymeric precursors method, Pechini, as well as the composite material NiO - Ce0,9Gd0,1O1,95, used as anode, also attained by oxide mixture method, mixturing the powders of the both phases calcinated already. The materials were characterized by X ray diffraction, dilatometry and scanning electronic microscopy. The refinement of the diffraction data indicated that all the Ce1-xGdxO2-δ powders were crystallized in a unique cubic phase with fluorite structure, and the composite synthesized by Pechini method produced smaller crystallite size in comparison with the same material attained by oxide mixture method. All the produced powders had nanometric characteristics. The composite produced by Pechini method has microstructural characteristics that can increase the triple phase boundaries (TPB) in the anode, improving the cell efficiency, as well as reducing the mass transport mechanism effect that provokes anode degradation

Influência do método de síntese e caracterização de pós compósitos de NiO- Ce1-xEuxO2-δ para anodos catalíticos de células a combustível

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert chemical energy into electricity. Due to the development of new materials, fuel cells are emerging as generating clean energy generator. Among the types of fuel cells, categorized according to the electrode type, the solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) stand out due to be the only device entirely made of solid particles. Beyond that, their operation temperature is relatively high (between 500 and 1000 °C), allowing them to operate with high efficiency. Another aspect that promotes the use of SOFC over other cells is their ability to operate with different fuels. The CeO2 based materials doped with rare earth (TR+3) may be used as alternatives to traditional NiO-YSZ anodes as they have higher ionic conductivity and smaller ohmic losses compared to YSZ, and can operate at lower temperatures (500-800°C). In the composition of the anode, the concentration of NiO, acting as a catalyst in YSZ provides high electrical conductivity and high electrochemical activity of reactions, providing internal reform in the cell. In this work compounds of NiO - Ce1-xEuxO2-δ (x = 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3) were synthesized from polymeric precursor, Pechini, method of combustion and also by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The materials were characterized by the techniques of TG, TPR, XRD and FEG-SEM. The refinement of data obtained by X-ray diffraction showed that all powders of NiO - Cex-1EuxO2-δ crystallized in a cubic phase with fluorite structure, and also the presence of Ni. Through the characterizations can be proved that all routes of preparation used were effective for producing ceramics with characteristics suitable for application as SOFC anodes, but the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method showed a significant reduction in the average grain size and improved control of the compositions of the phases

Obtenção e caracterização de um compósito de poliuretano de mamona e pó de vidro para aplicações em insolantes térmicos

Thermal insulation is used to protect the heated or cooled surfaces by the low thermal conductivity materials. The rigid ricin polyurethane foams (PURM) are used for thermal insulation and depend on the type and concentration of blowing agent. Obtaining PURM occurs by the use of polyol, silicone, catalyst and blowing agent are pre -mixed, reacting with the isocyanate. The glass is reusable, returnable and recyclable heat insulating material, whose time of heat dissipation determines the degree of relaxation of its structure; and viscosity determines the conditions for fusion, operating temperatures, annealing, etc. The production of PURM composites with waste glass powder (PV) represents economical and renewable actions of manufacturing of thermal insulating materials. Based on these aspects, the study aimed to produce and characterize the PURM composites with PV, whose the mass percentages were 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 wt%. PURM was obtained commercially, while the PV was recycled from the tailings of the stoning process of a glassmaking; when the refining process was applied to obtain micrometer particles. The PURM + PV composites were studied taking into account the standard sample of pure PURM and the influence of the percentage of PV in this PURM matrix. The results of the chemical, physical and morphological characterization were discussed taking into account the difference in the microstructural morphology of the PURM+PV composites and the pure PURM, as well the results of the physicochemical, mechanical e thermophysical tests by values obtained of density, hardness, compressive strength, specific heat, thermal conductivity and diffusivity. In general, the structure of pure PURM showed large, elongated and regular pores, while PURM+PV composites showed irregular, small and rounded pores with shapeless cells. This may have contributed to reducing their mechanical strength, especially for PURM - PV50. The hardness and density were found to have a proportional relationship with the PV content on PURM matrix. The specific heat, thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity showed proportional relationship to each other. So, this has been realized that the increasing the PV content on PURM matrix resulted in the rise of diffusivity and thermal conductivity and the decrease of the specific heat. However, the values obtained by the PURM composites were similar the values of pure PURM, mainly the PURM-PV5 and PURM-PV10. Therefore, these composites can be applied like thermal insulator; furthermore, their use could reduce the production costs and to preserve the environment