Synthesis, characterisation and heat capacity of Ba_0.5Sr_0.5CeO₃

Proton conducting ceramic electrolyser cells are gaining interest worldwide for consuming greenhouse gas CO₂ and to produce fuel (syngas). For this purpose, perovskite-type proton conducting ceramic oxides such as SrCeO₃(s) and BaCeO₃(s) have been studied and being consider as the best candidates to be used as electrolytes for such SOFCs. These ceramics have high proton conductivities in moist environment with low activation energy. However, BaCeO₃ exhibit high proton conductivity and less chemical stability against CO₂-containing gas. On the other hand, SrCeO₃(s) shows relatively high chemical stability but low proton conductivity. The aim of this study is to optimize both proton conductivity and chemical stability by using a combination of the BaCeO₃ (exhibiting high proton conductivity), SrCeO₃ (exhibiting high chemical stability). Strontium doped barium cerate having composition Ba_0.5Sr_0.5CeO₃ has been synthesized and the heat capacity of the compound was determined employing DSC