A theoretical and experimental study of silicon carbide for fuel cell applications

Abstract Silicon Carbide is a semiconductor used in energy storage devices, lithium-ion batteries, solar cells, and fuel cells. The electronic and structural properties of pristine 3C-SiC, with one and two vacancies, have been investigated. The optimized lattice parameter of pristine 3C-SiC is found to be 4.3835 Å, close to the experimental value of 4.3596 Å. Pristine 3C-SiC has an indirect band gap of 1.26 eV, indicating a semiconductor nature. Carbon vacancy in silicon carbide changes the semiconductor to a metallic nature. Carbon vacancy in silicon carbide enhances ionic conductivity. The solid-state reaction method has been used to synthesize the 3C-SiC electrolyte material. XRD analysis of 3C-SiC exhibits a cubic structure with a crystallite size of 57 nm. UV–Vis. Spectroscopy analysis revealed an indirect bandgap of 1.25 eV. The ionic conductivity of 0.31 S cm −1 is found at 700 °C. The power density of 89 mW cm −2 has been measured at 600 °C using sub-bituminous fuel.