Oxygen transport in La0.5Sr0.5Fe1-yTiyO3-δ (y=0.0, 0.2) membranes

The influence of partial substitution of Fe with Ti on the oxygen transport properties of La1-x Sr (x) FeO3 membranes was investigated in view of their application for oxygen separation. Samples of composition La0.5Sr0.5Fe1-yTiyO3-delta (y = 0, 0.2) were prepared and their oxygen transport properties characterised by potential step relaxation and by oxygen permeation measurement in an air/argon gradient. With the first technique, chemical diffusion ((D) over tilde) and surface exchange (k(S)) coefficients were obtained by fitting of the current relaxation data to a single expression valid over the complete time range. The Ti-substituted composition gave slightly larger values of (D) over tilde and k(S). The trend was opposite for the measured oxygen permeation flux. In the latter experience, ordering of oxygen vacancies was observed at lower temperature, reducing significantly the performance of the material.