Oxygen permeation flux through 10Sc1YSZ-MnCo2O4 asymmetric membranes prepared by two-step sintering

Abstract Asymmetric membranes based on a dual phase composite consisting of (Y 2 O 3 ) 0.01 (Sc 2 O 3 ) 0.10 (ZrO 2 ) 0.89 (10Sc1YSZ) as ionic conductor and MnCo 2 O 4 as electronic conductor were prepared and characterized with respect to sinterability, microstructure and oxygen transport properties. The composite membranes were prepared by tape casting, lamination and fired in a two-step sintering process. Microstructural analysis showed that a gastight thin membrane layer with the desired ratio of ionic/electronic conducting phases could be fabricated. Oxygen permeation fluxes across the 10Sc1YSZ/MnCo 2 O 4 (70/30 vol%) composite membrane were measured from 750 to 940 °C using air or pure oxygen as feed gases and N 2 or CO 2 as sweep gases. Fluxes up to 2.3 ml N  min − 1  cm − 2 were obtained for the 7 μm thick membrane. A degradation test over 1730 h showed an initial degradation of 21% during the first 1100 h after which stable performance was achieved. The observed degradation is attributed to coarsening of the infiltrated catalyst.