Protonic Mobility of Neodymium Tungstate

Abstract

This work aims at studying protonic transport of mixed proton–electron-conducting Nd5.5WO11.25-δ oxide synthesized by a citrate method as material for hydrogen separation membranes. Structure of samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and protonic mobility was studied using temperature-programmed desorption of H2O and isotope heteroexchange of the bulk protons with D2O as well as mass relaxation after an abrupt change of H2O partial pressure. The temperature range of Nd5.5WO11.25-δ efficient operation is 300–400 °C, where H+ tracer diffusion and chemical diffusion coefficients are ∼1 × 10−11 and ∼2 × 10−5 cm2/s, respectively, being comparable to or even better than those for similar systems. Hence, Nd5.5WO11.25-δ is a promising material for the design of hydrogen separation membranes.