An efficient hierarchical nanostructured Pr6O11 electrode for solid oxide fuel cells. Issue 23 (24th May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sharma, R. K.; Djurado, E.
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 6:Issue 23(2018)
• Page Start: 10787
• Page End: 10802
• Publication Date: 2018-05-24
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c8ta00190a
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : Fabrication by ESD and electrochemical properties of various innovative hierarchical nanostructured and pure Pr6 O11 electrodes for SOFCs are reported. Abstract : A hierarchical nanostructured Pr6 O11 phase, a potential electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction, is prepared for the first time by electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) on a GDC (Ce0.9 Gd0.1 O2 − δ ) electrolyte and evaluated as an Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell cathode. Different and innovative microstructures are found to be related to the solvent composition, deposition time, nozzle to substrate distance, substrate temperature and solution flow rate. Single phase Pr6 O11 films crystallize in a Fm 3̄ m fluorite cubic structure after calcination at 700 °C for 2 h in air. The electrochemical properties are found to be strongly dependent on the microstructure of the cathode films. A symmetrical cell based on the double layer architecture (a columnar-type active layer by ESD topped by a screen-printed current collector) cathode presents a low polarization resistance value of 0.02 Ω cm 2 at 600 °C. To the best of our knowledge, this Pr6 O11 cathode shows the best performance reported to date for all SOFC cathode materials. A single cell made of a commercial (Ni-3YSZ/Ni-8YSZ/8YSZ/GDC) half cell and this double layer cathode delivers a maximum power density of 500 mW cm −2 at 700 °C. Moreover, Pr6 O11 does not show any reactivity with GDC over 10 days in air at 800 °C.