Enhancing the Cathodic Performance of LSM Via Nanostructured Surface Decoration with Infiltrated Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3-Δ

Abstract

The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) is getting attention from next-generation electrochemical energy conversion devices with high efficiency and low pollutant emission. But the high operating temperature in SOFC can lead to problems like high cost, difficult sealing, and fast degradation. To alleviate this problem, Intermediate temperature SOFC (IT-SOFC) has become an adequate alternative. But, as the operating temperature decreased, the Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) also decreased, contributing to performance degradation and efficiency loss. The infiltration method, effectively improving the performance of the SOFC electrode, is one of the most effective ways. However, this method has been limited due to the multi-step process and instability of long-term operation. In this study, we suggest a new process that combines the infiltration and spray method with co-sintering to diminish the multi-step. We fabricated a cathode in which the LSM and Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3-δ infiltration solvent coated simultaneously by the spray process and co-sintered. And we measured the cell performance and stability. Consequently, when applied as electrolyte-supported cells at 1073K, performance is measured by exhibiting a maximum power density of 0.986W cm-2 in fuel cell mode and electrolysis performance of 0.878A cm-2 at 1.3V. The result of this study was 0.724W higher than that of the bare LSM electrode. Figure 1