Publication date: 10th April 2024
Solid state ionic (SSI) devices such as fuel cells, electrolyzers, batteries and sensors are becoming critically important in our effort to promote clean and renewable energy and decarbonize the future, due to their distinct advantages in efficiency and scalability over conventional conversion and storage technologies. Fast-ion conductors (FICs) are an indispensable component in SSI devices. The ionic conductivity of FICs plays a pivotal role in the performance of these devices. Known for their abundant, versatile defects and ion-transport-friendly environment, cubic perovskites have been enthusiastically explored in the past few decades as a promising class of FICs. In this presentation, we will first review recent advances in perovskite FICs. By combining theory and experiment, we will then discuss the interplay between defect-chemistry, ionic transport, and electrochemical stability using several cubic perovskite FICs, old and new, as illustrating examples. We will also highlight several useful experimental techniques to characterize ionic conductivity, transport number and electrochemical stability of FICs. We will finally provide our thoughts on potential applications of these perovskite FICs to generate new interest in developing innovative FICs and SSI devices.