Characterization and catalytic activity of La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ-yttria stabilized zirconia electrospun nano-fiber as a cathode catalyst

The influence of electrospinning parameters including polymer content and applied voltage on microstructural features of 8 mol% Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2 (8YSZ) nanofiber were investigated in this work. Cathode catalyst of nano-La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-delta (LSCF) particles mixed with nano-8YSZ electrolyte fiber was coated onto 8YSZ electrolyte to study its catalytic property, compared to the powder cathode. The experimental results show that a uniform 8YSZ nanofiber of 100 nm diameter could be spun at the concentration of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) of approximately 9.89 wt% and at an applied voltage of 20 kV. The exchange current of the LSCF-8YSZ nanofiber composite cathode which is 145.06 mA/cm(2) is much better than that of the LSCF-8YSZ powder cathode which is 81.82 mA/cm(2). It is due to the increase of triple phase boundary by fiber structure to increment oxygen reduction reaction. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.