Engineered Nanofunctional Thin Films as Interfacial Layers to Enhance Performance and Durability of SOFCs

Abstract

A strategy to improve the performance and durability of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is to increase the cathodic activity and decrease the interfacial resistance between the cathode and electrolyte. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) has shown to be a promising method to engineer functional interlayers to enhance the cell's performance. In the present study, a bilayer consisting of Sm0.2Ce0.8O2-δ (SDC) barrier layer (BL) and a self-assembled nanocomposite consisting of SDC-La0.8Sr0.2MnO3-δ (SDC-LSM) employed as a cathode functional layer were deposited by PLD in an anode supported SOFC. The presented thin and dense layers are shown to be an effective strategy for the fabrication of high-performance fuel cells (power density of 1.0 W·cm−2 at 0.7 V and 750 °C). Durability tests carried out for up to 1500 h demonstrated the excellent stability of the fuel cell. Post-test analyses confirmed the stability of the microstructure of the developed bilayer.