Infiltrated multiscale porous cathode for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells

A Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3-delta (SSC)-BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.2O3-delta (BZCY) composite cathode with multiscale porous structure was successfully fabricated through infiltration for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The multiscale porous SSC catalyst was coated on the BZCY cathode backbones. Single cells with such composite cathode demonstrated peak power densities of 0.289, 0.383, and 0.491 W cm(-2) at 600, 650, 700 degrees C, respectively. Cell polarization resistances were found to be as low as 0.388, 0.162, and 0.064 Omega cm(2) at 600,650 and 700 degrees C, respectively. Compared with the infiltrated multiscale porous cathode, cells with screen-printed SSC-BZCY composite cathode showed much higher polarization resistance of 0.912 Omega cm(2) at 600 degrees C. This work has demonstrated a promising approach in fabricating high performance proton-conducting SOFCs. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.