Synthesis and Characterization of Zn-doped LiCoO_2 Material Prepared via Glycinenitrate Combustion Method for Proton Conducting Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Application

Lico_2-based materials are well-known, widely used as cathode materials in lithium ion batteries and currently are also used in low temperature proton conducting solid oxide fuel cells (h+-sofcs) application. dopants such as zn are introduced in lico_2-based materials to improve the properties and performance of the materials for h+-sof capplication. in this study, zn-doped lico_2, lico_006 zn_0.4o_2 (lczo) powder was synthesized via glycine-nitrate combustion method followed by various characterizations. the precursor lczo powder dried at 100°c was subjected to thermogravimetric analysis (tga). the phase formation and morphology of the calcined lczo powder at 600°c were examined by an x- ray diffractometer (xrd) and a tabletop scanning electron microscope (sem), respectively. the tga result revealed that the thermal decomposition of the intermediate compounds in the precursor lczo powder was completed at 800°c through three main phases of weight losses. a pure phase of lczo was not completely produced after the calcination at 600°c due to the presence of secondary phases as confirmed from the xrd analysis. the identified secondary phases that present are confirmed as znco_2o_4 and zno as documented in jcpds file no. 00-001-1149 and jcpds file no. 01-079-0205 consecutively. the sem images showed that the impure calcined lczo powder possessed homogeneous and fine particles.