Multi-phase solid ion and electron conducting membrane with low volume percentage electron conducting phase and methods for fabricating

Abstract

A multi-phase solid electrolyte ion transport membrane comprising at least two phases wherein one of the phases comprises an oxygen ion single conductive material. The other phase comprises an electronically-conductive metal or metal oxide conducting phase is present in a low volume percentage. One method for achieving this result incorporates the minority phase into the powder from which the membrane is made by deposition of the metal or metal oxide from a polymer made by polymerizing a chelated metal dispersion in a polymerizable organic monomer or prepolymer. The multi-phase composition advantageously comprises a first phase of a ceramic material and a second phase of a metal or metal oxide bound to a surface of the ceramic material. A second method fabricates the membrane from a mixture of two powders one of which contains a mixture of the two phases.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.