High-performance lanthanum-ferrite-based cathode for SOFC

(La0.6Sr0.4)(1-x)Co0.2Fe0.8O3/Ce0.9Gd0.1O3 (LSCF/CGO) composite cathodes were investigated for SOFC application at intermediate temperature, i.e., 500-700 degreesC. The LSCF/CGO cathodes have been studied on three types of tape-casted electrolyte substrates including CGO electrolyte, Yttrium-stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte coated with a thin layer of CGO, and YSZ electrolyte. Impedance spectra were measured to determine the polarization resistance (R,) and series resistance (R-s) on cells in a symmetric configuration. R-p of 0.19 Omega cm(2) at 600 degreesC and 0.026 Omega cm(2) at 700 degreesC were obtained using LSCF/CGO cathode on CGO electrolyte. On the YSZ electrolyte with thin layer CGO coating, R-p of 0.6 Omega cm(2) at 600 degreesC and 0.12 Omega cm(2) at 700 degreesC were obtained. On the YSZ electrolyte directly, R-p of 1.0 Omega cm(2) at 600 degreesC and 0.13 Omega cm(2) at 700 degreesC were achieved. These results are roughly six times better than our typical LSM cathodes. Slightly higher R-s was observed in the samples with LSCF/CGO cathode on the YSZ electrolyte with CGO coating due to extra contribution from the thin CGO layer and the CGO/YSZ interface. For the samples with LSCF/CGO on YSZ, the Rs was the same as that of our best LSM samples, which indicates good adhesion between LSCF/CGO cathode and YSZ electrolyte. Aging experiment at 800 'C for the cathode of LSCF/CGO on YSZ electrolyte shows a degradation rate of 5 x 10(-4) Omega CM2/h in R-p, while the R-s has no obvious change. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.