International Journal of Energy Research, Vol.42, No.13, 4229-4234, 2018
The microstructure effect on ion conduction in composite electrolyte
In this work, the microstructure of composite electrolyte is reconstructed by randomly packing cubes, and the charge transport process is simulated to calculate the effective conductivity ratio sigma(eff)/sigma(0) of the designated conducting phase. Effects of the volume fraction and the electrolyte particle size on sigma(eff)/sigma(0) are also examined. Results show that sigma(eff)/sigma(0) is independent of the particle size but sensitive to its volume fraction. Finally, a new formula is proposed to quickly predict the sigma(eff)/sigma(0) of the designated conducting phase in composite electrolyte with varying compositions.
Keywords:composite electrolyte;effective conductivity;numerical modeling;reconstruction;solid oxide fuel cell