Doped BSCF cathode materials for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell applications-A short review

Abstract

Fuel cell is used to produce electric energy through electrochemical process by energy conversion from chemical to electrical. Unlike conventional fuel combustion, fuel cell technology does not involve combustion process and completely eliminates the issues resulted from combustion emissions. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) contains electrolytes which conduct oxide-ions. Higher efficiency, economically lower material cost and lower sensitivity against the impurities are the benefits with SOFC. Low-temperature (LT) or intermediate temperature SOFC is attractive because of its low value of working temperature (500–800 °C). Reducing the degradation of component, improvement of cell durability and less cost are the significant advantages with LT-SOFC. In the electrochemical reduction in LT-SOFC, cathode material plays an important role. BSCF cathode that contains Ba, Sr, Co and Fe as the important elements is widely used in LT-SOFC development due to its attractive performance. This article presents a brief review on various elements doped BSCF cathode materials and their performance. The importance of these elements on BSCF cathode properties is discussed and summarized.