Investigation of Ce-based buffer layers on electrochemical performance of YSZ-based symmetric solid oxide fuel cells

Abstract

It is well known that the introduction of buffer layers can enhance the electrical performance of SSOFCs. Hence, we studied varying ratios of Gd-doped CeO2 as a buffer layer and applied it to YSZ-based SSOFCs. The results demonstrate that the performance is enhanced by adding a buffer layer to the single cell, which is superior compared to that without the buffer layer. The highest performance was obtained when Ce0.8Gd0.2O2-δ (GDC20) was used as the buffer layer. The results suggest the use of GDC series buffer layers as an attractive strategy to optimize the performance loss due to electrolyte-electrode interactions.