Thin Film (La0.7Sr0.3)0.95MnO3-δFabricated by Pulsed Laser Deposition and Its Application as a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cathode for Low-Temperature Operation

Abstract

The feasibility of using the thin film technology in utilizing lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM) for a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathode in a low-temperature regime is investigated in this study. Thin film LSM cathodes were fabricated using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on anode-supported SOFCs with yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolytes. Although cells with a 1 ㎛ thick LSM cathode showed poor low-temperature cell performance compared to that of a cell with a bulk-processed cathode due to the lack of a triple-phase boundary length, the cell with 200 ㎚-thick gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) inserted between the LSM and YSZ showed enhanced performance and more stable operation characteristics in a comparison of a cell without a GDC layer. We postulate that the GDC layer likely improved the cathode adhesion, therefore contributing to the improvement of the cell performance instead of serving as an interfacial reaction buffer.