One-step infiltration of mixed conducting electrocatalysts for reducing cathode polarization of a commercial cathode-supported SOFC

Abstract

Infiltrating fine-grained electrocatalyst particles of either ion conducting or mixed electron and ion conducting (MEIC) material into a ceramic porous electrode scaffold has proven a very effective way to improve electrode performance for low to intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). We report here one-step infiltration of MEIC fine particles, La 0.6Sr0.4CoO3-δ (LSCo) and SrCo 0.8Fe0.2O3-δ (SCF), into a commercial cathode substrate. A comparative study shows that the cathode polarization can be considerably reduced by a factor of 17 to 28 and 28 to 49 from 1000 to 700δC by the infiltrated LSCF and SCF electrocatalysts, respectively, demonstrating an effective solution to improve the electrode performance without altering mechanical properties of the electrode substrate. © 2011 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.