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Baiutti F, Chiabrera F, Diercks D, Cavallaro A, Yedra L, López-Conesa L, Estradé S, Peiró F, Morata A, Aguadero A, Tarancón A. Direct Measurement of Oxygen Mass Transport at the Nanoscale. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2021; 33:e2105622. [PMID: 34611954 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202105622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Tuning oxygen mass transport properties at the nanoscale offers a promising approach for developing high performing energy materials. A number of strategies for engineering interfaces with enhanced oxygen diffusivity and surface exchange have been proposed. However, the origin and the magnitude of such local effects remain largely undisclosed to date due to the lack of direct measurement tools with sufficient resolution. In this work, atom probe tomography with sub-nanometer resolution is used to study oxygen mass transport on oxygen-isotope exchanged thin films of lanthanum chromite. A direct 3D visualization of nanoscaled highly conducting oxygen incorporation pathways along grain boundaries, with reliable quantification of the oxygen kinetic parameters and correlative link to local chemistries, is presented. Combined with finite element simulations of the exact nanostructure, isotope exchange-atom probe tomography allowed quantifying an enhancement in the grain boundary oxygen diffusivity and in the surface exchange coefficient of lanthanum chromite of about 4 and 3 orders of magnitude, respectively, compared to the bulk. This remarkable increase of the oxygen kinetics in an interface-dominated material is unambiguously attributed to grain boundary conduction highways thanks to the use of a powerful technique that can be straightforwardly extended to the study of currently inaccessible multiple nanoscale mass transport phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Baiutti
- Department of Advanced Materials for Energy, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Jardin de les Dones de Negre 1, Sant Adrià de Besòs (Barcelona), 08930, Spain
- Department of Materials Chemistry, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, Ljubljana, SI-1000, Slovenia
| | - Francesco Chiabrera
- Department of Advanced Materials for Energy, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Jardin de les Dones de Negre 1, Sant Adrià de Besòs (Barcelona), 08930, Spain
- Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Functional Oxides group, Technical University of Denmark, Fysikvej, 310, Kongens Lyngby, 233 2800, Denmark
| | - David Diercks
- Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, 80401, USA
| | - Andrea Cavallaro
- Department of Materials, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BP, UK
| | - Lluís Yedra
- Laboratory of Electron Nanoscopies (LENS), Micro-Nanotechnology and Nanoscopies for electrophotonic Devices (MIND), Department of Electronics and Biomedical Engineering and Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), University of Barcelona, C/Martí i Franquès 1, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
| | - Lluís López-Conesa
- Laboratory of Electron Nanoscopies (LENS), Micro-Nanotechnology and Nanoscopies for electrophotonic Devices (MIND), Department of Electronics and Biomedical Engineering and Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), University of Barcelona, C/Martí i Franquès 1, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
- TEM-MAT Unit, Scientific and Technological Centers of the University of Barcelona (CCiTUB), C/Lluís Solé i Sabaris 1, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
| | - Sonia Estradé
- Laboratory of Electron Nanoscopies (LENS), Micro-Nanotechnology and Nanoscopies for electrophotonic Devices (MIND), Department of Electronics and Biomedical Engineering and Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), University of Barcelona, C/Martí i Franquès 1, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
| | - Francesca Peiró
- Laboratory of Electron Nanoscopies (LENS), Micro-Nanotechnology and Nanoscopies for electrophotonic Devices (MIND), Department of Electronics and Biomedical Engineering and Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), University of Barcelona, C/Martí i Franquès 1, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
| | - Alex Morata
- Department of Advanced Materials for Energy, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Jardin de les Dones de Negre 1, Sant Adrià de Besòs (Barcelona), 08930, Spain
| | - Ainara Aguadero
- Department of Materials, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BP, UK
| | - Albert Tarancón
- Department of Advanced Materials for Energy, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Jardin de les Dones de Negre 1, Sant Adrià de Besòs (Barcelona), 08930, Spain
- ICREA, Passeig Lluís Companys 23, Barcelona, 08010, Spain
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A high-entropy manganite in an ordered nanocomposite for long-term application in solid oxide cells. Nat Commun 2021; 12:2660. [PMID: 33976209 PMCID: PMC8113253 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22916-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 03/29/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The implementation of nano-engineered composite oxides opens up the way towards the development of a novel class of functional materials with enhanced electrochemical properties. Here we report on the realization of vertically aligned nanocomposites of lanthanum strontium manganite and doped ceria with straight applicability as functional layers in high-temperature energy conversion devices. By a detailed analysis using complementary state-of-the-art techniques, which include atom-probe tomography combined with oxygen isotopic exchange, we assess the local structural and electrochemical functionalities and we allow direct observation of local fast oxygen diffusion pathways. The resulting ordered mesostructure, which is characterized by a coherent, dense array of vertical interfaces, shows high electrochemically activity and suppressed dopant segregation. The latter is ascribed to spontaneous cationic intermixing enabling lattice stabilization, according to density functional theory calculations. This work highlights the relevance of local disorder and long-range arrangements for functional oxides nano-engineering and introduces an advanced method for the local analysis of mass transport phenomena.
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