Rapid Laser Reactive Sintering for Sustainable and Clean Preparation of Protonic Ceramics

One of the essential challenges for energy conversion and storage devices based on protonic ceramics is that the high temperature (1600-1700 °C) and long-time firing (>10 h) are inevitably required for the fabrication, which makes the sustainable and clean manufacturing of protonic ceramic devices impractical. This study provided a new rapid laser reactive sintering (RLRS) method for the preparation of nine protonic ceramics [i.e., BaZr_0.8Y_0.2O_3-δ (BZY20), BZY20 + 1 wt % NiO, BaCe_0.7Zr_0.1Y_0.1Yb_0.1O_3-δ (BCZYYb), BCZYYb + 1 wt % NiO, 40 wt % BCZYYb + 60 wt % NiO, BaCe_0.85Fe_0.15O_3-δ-BaCe_0.15Fe_0.85O_3-δ (BCF), BaCo_0.4Fe_0.4Zr_0.1Y_0.1O_3-δ (BCFZY0.1), BaCe_0.6Zr_0.3Y_0.1O_3-δ (BCZY63), and La_0.7Sr_0.3CrO_3-δ (LSC)] with desired crystal structures and microstructures. Following this, the dual-layer half-cells, comprising the porous electrode and dense electrolyte, were prepared by the developed RLRS technique. After applying the BCFZY0.1 cathode, the protonic ceramic fuel cell (PCFC) single cells were prepared and tested initially. The derived conductivity of the RLRS electrolyte films showed comparable proton conductivity with the electrolyte prepared by conventional furnace sintering. The initial cost estimation based on electricity consumption during the sintering process for the fabrication of PCFC single cells showed that RLRS is more competitive than the conventional furnace sintering. This RLRS can be combined with the rapid additive manufacturing of ceramics for the sustainable and clean manufacturing of protonic ceramic energy devices and the processing of other ceramic devices.