Cerium Oxides co-doped with Lanthanum and Transition metals for Soldi Oxide Fuel Cells: XAS measurements

Ceria-based compounds find a wide range of possible applications in electrochemical devices, ranging from solid oxide fuel cells, oxygen storage materials as well as catalysis applications. Transport properties of doped CeO2-δ compounds strongly depend, among various parameters, on their composition and microstructure. Cerium oxide doped with rare earth elements and transition metals make for excellent candidates for catalytic materials in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, leading to an increase in the catalytic properties and stability. These materials have also been reported to be capable to form metallic nanoparticles on the surface of their grains acting as catalytic centres for electrochemical reactions. In this framework, the project aims to systematically study the structure and catalytic performances on a series of co-doped ceria materials, where one of the dopants will be Lanthanum and the other will be changed with a metal among Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Pt, Ru, Ag and Au.