Low cost silicates with apatite-structure (general formula of apatite A10-xM6O26±δ, where A = rare earth or alkaline earth and M= Si, Ge, P, V..) have been proposed recently as promising solid electrolyte materials (oxygen ion conductors) for use at intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). These materials exhibit sufficiently high ionic conductivity (e.g. ~ 0.01 S cm-1 at 700 oC), which is dominated by the interstitial site mechanism and can exceed that of yttria-stabilized-zirconia (YSZ), the solid electrolyte used in state-of-the-art SOFCs. The apatite structure is tolerant to extensive aliovalent doping, which has been applied for improving ionic conductivity. In this work are presented results concerning synthesis, conductivity and catalytic characterization of Fe- and/or Al-doped apatite type lanthanum silicates (ATLS) of the general formula La10-zSi6-x-yAlxFeyO26±δ as well as electrochemical characterization of interfaces of ATLS pellets with perovskite and Ni-based electrodes. The aim was to investigate the properties of these ATLS material, in particular as it concerns their potential use as SOFC components or as catalysts in oxidation reactions. The conductivity of pellets prepared from ATLS powders synthesized via four different methods and having different grain size was measured under air and at different temperatures in the range 600 -850 oC, aiming to identification of the effect of composition (doping), method of synthesis, grain size and pellet sintering conditions. For electrolytes of the same composition, those prepared via mechanochemical activation exhibited the highest conductivity, which was improved with increasing Al- and decreasing Fe-content. In state-of-the-art SOFCs perovskite electrodes are used as cathodes and Ni-based electrodes as anodes, thus electrochemical characterization of perovskite and Ni-based/ATLS interfaces was carried out. As it concerns perovskite/ATLS interfaces, the characterization focused on the study of the open circuit AC impedance characteristics of a La0.8Sr0.2Ni0.4Fe0.6O3-δ/La9.83Si5Al0.75Fe0.25O26±δ interface, at temperatures 600 to 800 oC and oxygen partial pressures ranging from 0.1 to 20 kPa. Under the aforementioned conditions, it was observed that the impedance characteristics of the interface were determined by at least two different processes, corresponding to two partially overlapping depressed arcs in the Nyquist plots. The polarization conductance of the interface was found to increase with increasing temperature as well as with increasing oxygen partial pressure, following a power law dependence. The electrochemical characterization of Ni-based electrodes/ATLS interfaces involved study of the electrochemical characteristics of NiO-apatite cermet electrodes as well as a Ni sputtered electrode interfaced with Al- or Fe-doped apatite electrolytes, under hydrogen atmospheres. The impedance characteristics of these electrodes were found to be determined by up to three different processes, their relative contribution depending on the electrode microstructure, Ni content (as it concerns the cermet electrodes), temperature, hydrogen partial pressure and applied overpotential. Aiming to investigation of potential catalytic properties of ATLS materials the catalytic activity for CO combustion of a series of ATLS powders was studied. For this purpose, two series of apatite-type lanthanum silicates La10-xSi6-y-zAlyFezO27-3x/2-(y+z)/2 (ATLS), undoped or doped with Al and/or Fe, were synthesized via sol-gel and modified dry sol-gel methods and tested as catalysts for CO combustion. The experiments revealed that the ATLS powders were catalytically active for CO combustion above approximately 300 oC, with light-off temperatures T50 (50% conversion of CO) ranging from 505 to 629 oC. The study focused on the effect on catalytic activity of the synthesis method and doping with Al and/or Fe. Non-doped ATLS with stoichiometric structure, namely La10Si6O27 prepared via the sol-gel method, exhibited the highest catalytic activity for CO oxidation among all tested compositions, the comparison being based on the measured catalytic rate (expressed per surface area of the catalyst) under practically differential conditions. Compared to La-Sr-Mn-O and La-Sr-Co-Fe-O perovskite powders, the tested ATLS powders exhibited lower catalytic activity for CO oxidation. / -

Le travail s’inscrit dans le cadre général de l’étude de la famille LAMOX, dont le prototype est La2Mo2O9, de structure monoclinique à température ambiante (phase ?), et qui présentent au dessus de 580°C une phase cubique (?) ayant une conduction anionique supérieure à la meilleure zircone stabilisée actuellement utilisé comme électrolyte de pile SOFC (Solid Oxid Fuel Cell), et ce à températures plus basses. L'analogie structurale de la forme ?-La2Mo2O9 avec le composé ?-SnWO4 a permis de proposer une explication à l’origine structurale de la conduction dans le molybdate de lanthane. Le remplacement de l’étain divalent par le lanthane trivalent implique un apport d’oxygène et la création de lacunes, qui viennent se substituer à la place de la paire libre E (5s2) de l’étain (Sn2W2O8E2 ? La2Mo2O8+1?). La migration de cet oxygène supplémentaire par la lacune créée engendre l’apparition d’une conduction anionique.Le travail de thèse comporte deux volets :- recherche de nouvelles compositions pouvant présenter la phase conductrice ? à plus basses températures par substitution du molybdène par du soufre et du phosphore, systèmes n’ayant pas jusqu’alors fait l’objet d’investigations avancées ;- étude des propriétés vibrationnelles et dynamiques de ce type structural afin de comprendre le mécanisme de conduction anionique, et notamment l’existence des changements de régimes de conduction observés en fonction de la température.Des phases pures La2Mo2-ySyO9 et La2Mo2-yPyO9-y/2 ont pu être élaborées jusqu’à des teneurs en soufre de 30% (y = 0.6) et de phosphore de 2.5% (y = 0.05). La forme ? recherchée est stabilisée à la température ambiante pour des taux de soufre supérieurs à 5% et de phosphore supérieurs à 1,5%. Des analyses thermogravimétriques ont révélé que la substitution du molybdène par le soufre diminuait fortement la stabilité thermique des phases rendant ainsi leurs caractérisations par diffraction des rayons X et spectroscopie d’impédance délicates. Pour la série La2Mo2-yPyO9-y/2, une ségrégation partielle du phosphore a été mise en évidence par spectroscopie RMN. Les mesures électriques réalisées sur les deux séries d’échantillons ont montré une conductivité significative, mais néanmoins moindre que celle observée à haute température pour le composé parent La2Mo2O9.Le second volet visant à comprendre le mécanisme de conduction repose sur l’étude des propriétés vibrationnelles. Il s’est appuyé sur des études expérimentales par spectrométrie Raman en liaison avec des calculs ab-initio des spectres de phonons. Malgré des raies Raman très larges en raison du désordre structural, il a été possible de mettre en lumière des signatures caractéristiques des différentes phases en lien avec le réarrangement structural. L’interprétation des spectres a été effectuée en s’appuyant sur la parenté structurale avec le composé modèle ordonné ?-SnWO4. Ce système a permis de démontrer un haut degré de fiabilité des calculs ab-initio sur la base de comparaisons à des études expérimentales par Raman polarisé. Ces calculs transposés au cas du sous-réseau ordonné de LaMoO4 ont amenés à une attribution des signaux Raman. Ceci a permis d’une part de démontrer que des structures observées sur des bandes vibrationnelles Raman devaient être attribuées à l’existence de différents environnements atomiques, et d’autre part l’existence de singularités dans les spectres de phonons, lesquelles soutiennent le modèle préalablement proposé de conduction anionique assistée par phonons. / A new ionic conductor of the solid solutions La2Mo2-yPyO9-y/2 (y ? 0.05) and La2Mo2-ySyO9 (y ? 0.6) has been prepared with conventional solid-state reaction method. The resultant oxide powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction. These two series of lanthanum molybdates, which belong to the LAMOX family of fast oxide-ion conductors, exhibits a different structural behavior depending on the substituting element. The effect of substituting P for Mo reveals that the phase transition which occurs in La2Mo2O9 around 560°C disappears when y > 0.02. Substituting P in some degree (y > 0.02) for Mo6+ can suppress the phase transition and stabilizing the cubic phase of ?- La2Mo2O9. The sulfur series (up to around 30 %) suppress the phase transition which occurs in La2Mo2O9 around 580°C from a low temperature ? form to a high temperature ?, and stabilize the ? form at room temperature.Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the substitution of molybdenum by sulfur greatly decreased the thermal stability of phases making their characterization by X-ray diffraction and impedance spectroscopy difficult. For the series La2Mo2-yPyO9-y/2, a partial segregation of phosphorus was demonstrated by NMR spectroscopy. Electrical measurements performed on the two sets of samples showed significant conductivity, but still less than that observed at high temperature for the parent compound La2Mo2O9.The infrared and Raman spectra of the low- and high-temperature phases of LAMOX were performed at ambient temperature. All theoretically predicted vibrations have been observed, and assignments have been given for the internal vibrations of the MoO42-, SO42- and PO43- ions as for the external vibrations. It is interesting to study the vibrational spectra of these two phases (? and ?) in order to obtain more conclusive data regarding the internal vibrations of the XO4 (X= Mo, P, S).