Tailoring the Sr-deficiency allows high performance of Sr2Fe1.5Mo0.25Sc0.25O6 cathode for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells

A Sr-deficiency approach is utilized to adjust the composition of the standard Sr2-xFe1.5Mo0.25Sc0.25O6 (SFMS) material, with the goal of improving the performance of the SFMS cathode in proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (H-SOFCs). The Sr-deficiency concentration is restricted to 10% at the Sr site, and an increase in Sr-deficiency leads to the formation of more oxygen vacancies. However, the presence of increased oxygen vacancies does not consistently enhance the diffusion capabilities of charge carriers. The excess of oxygen vacancies impedes the movement of oxygen and protons. The optimal oxygen and proton transport capabilities are achieved when the Sr-deficiency level is set at 5%. Specifically, this is observed in the compound Sr1.9Fe1.5Mo0.25Sc0.25O6 (S1.9FMS). The enhanced oxygen and proton diffusion kinetics enable H-SOFCs to achieve exceptional performance when employing the S1.9FMS cathode, reaching a power density of 1709 mW cm(-2) at 700 degrees C with a low polarization resistance of 0.023 Omega cm(2). The fuel cell's output exceeds that of many previously reported H-SOFCs. Furthermore, the fuel cell utilizing the S1.9FMS cathode not only exhibits excellent fuel cell performance but also maintains reliable operational stability. This indicates that employing the Sr-deficiency technique with an appropriate level of deficiency is a successful approach to enhance the cathode performance for H-SOFCs.