Abstract
The synthesis of nanoscale particles has received considerable attention because of the potential for new materials and unique properties. The novel properties and the numerous applications of nanophase materials, especially ceramic nanopowders, have attracted many scientists and engineers to invent and explore the preparation methods of ceramic nanoparticles. Induction plasma is used to synthesize cathode materials for fuel cells. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are very promising energy conversion systems. SOFCs are based on an oxide-ion conducting electrolyte and they offer a clean, low-pollution technology to electrochemically generate electricity at high efficiencies. These fuel cells provide many advantages over traditional energy conversion systems including high efficiency, reliability, modularity, fuel adaptability, and very low levels of SOx and NOx emissions. It has been found that La1-xSrxMO3-d, (M= Fe, Co etc) are perovskite materials widely considered as the Intermediate Temperature SOFC cathode materials of choice. In particular, La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ is extensively used for IT-SOFCs because its thermal expansion coefficient is relatively close to that of the common electrolytes. In this paper, the nanopowders of SOFC cathode materials were synthesized by thermal plasma spray technique. The results of their structure, morphology and particle size distributions will be presented. Abstract only; no full-text paper available.
