CECOMEC project: characterization of double doped ceria with a lanthanide and a transition metal

Doped ceria materials find potential application in a range of fields such as electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cells and oxygen storage materials. The doping in these materials with aliovalent ions leads to the formation of Oxygen vacancies within the ceria lattice, improving ionic transport properties of doped CeO2-δ compounds. These materials have also been reported to be capable to form metallic nanoparticles on the surface of their grains acting as catalytic sites for electrochemical reactions. The project aims to systematically study a series of co-doped ceria materials, where the doping will involve always a Lanthanide and a Transition Metal. The synergistic effect on the structure and defect chemistry of the two dopants will be investigated. XAS analysis will be applied to characterize oxidation state and local environment in systems where the Lanthanide dopant will be either Samarium or Neodymium, and the Transition metal will be changed with a metal among Co, Ni, Cu.