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Title: Enhancing Oxygen Reduction Activity and Cr Tolerance of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cathodes by a Multiphase Catalyst Coating

Journal Article · · Advanced Functional Materials
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [6]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Univ. of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu (China)
  2. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
  3. Univ. of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu (China)
  4. South China Univ. of Technology, Guangzhou (China)
  5. Harbin Inst. of Technology (China)
  6. Univ. of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu (China); Harbin Inst. of Technology (China)

Intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs) are cost-effective and efficient energy conversion systems. Here, the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the degradation of cathodes are critical challenges to the commercialization of IT-SOFCs. Here, a highly efficient multiphase (MP) catalyst coating, consisting of Ba1–xCo0.7Fe0.2Nb0.1O3–δ (BCFN) and BaCO3, to enhance the ORR activity and durability of the state-of-the-art lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3–δ, LSCF) cathode is reported. The conformal MP catalyst-coated LSCF cathode shows a polarization resistance (Rp) of 0.048 Ω cm2 at 650 °C, about one order of magnitude smaller than that of the bare LSCF. In an accelerated Cr-poisoning test, the degradation rate of the catalyst-coated LSCF electrode is 10–3 Ω cm2 h–1 (0.59% h–1) over 200 h, only one fifth of the degradation rate of the bare LSCF electrode at 750 °C. In addition, anode-supported single cells with the MP catalyst-coated LSCF cathode show a dramatically enhanced peak power density (1.4 W cm–2 vs 0.67 W cm–2 at 750 °C) and increased durability against Cr and H2O. Both experimental results and density functional theory-based calculations indicate that the BCFN phase improves the ORR activity while the BaCO3 phase enhances the stability of the LSCF cathode.

Research Organization:
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); China Scholarship Council
Grant/Contract Number:
FE0031201; DE‐FE0031201; EE0008439
OSTI ID:
1877394
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1804181; OSTI ID: 2205165
Journal Information:
Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 31, Issue 19; ISSN 1616-301X
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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