Preparation of dense BaxSr1-xCo0.8Fe0.2O3 membranes: Effect of Ba2+ substituents and sintering method to the density, hardness and thermal expansion coefficient of the membranes

The aims of this research are to study the sintering technique during the production of BaxSr1-xCo0.8Fe0.2O3-δ (BSCF) membranes and to obtain information about the correlation between Ba 2+ substituent with membrane’s density, hardness and thermal expansion coefficient. BSCF with x = 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7 (BSCF 5582, 6482 and 7382) were synthesized by the solid state method. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the three oxides possessed a cubic structure with high purity and crystallinity. BSCF membranes were made by dry pressing method from their respective powders which passed through 400 mesh sieves at 1050 o C and 1150 o C. Membranes with high density were obtained from phased sintering technique at 1150 °C. SEM analysis results showed that the surface of the membranes is dense, albeit pores can still be found in the cross section of the membranes. The density of the membranes decreased as the amount of Ba 2+ substituent increases indicated by the increase in pore size. A similar p