Characterization and performance of fuel cells using BaCe _0.9Y_0.1O_0-δ electrolyte modified by an ion beam

To investigate the effects of ion irradiation for improving the performance of a fuel cell, specimens were irradiated with Ar⁺ ion beams at total fluences of 0, 1×1017 and 5×1017 ions/cm². After the ion-beam processing, measurements of the hydrogen concentration at the near-surface and of the electrical conductivity of the specimens, along with scanning electron microscopy observations, showed that the increase in oxygen vacancies formed due to irradiation contributed not only to an increase in hydrogen concentration on the surface but to an improvement in proton conductivity. These results suggest that this method is effective for improving the proton conductivity in proton-conducting Y-doped BaCeO_3-δ. Additionally, unit fuel cells were fabricated using the Y-doped BaCeO _3-δs irradiated by the ion beam with different fluences. It was observed from their I-V and I-P curves, that with the increase in Ar ⁺ fluence, both the current density and power density were improved.