High performance praseodymium nickelate oxide cathode for low temperature solid oxide fuel cell

The praseodymium nickelate oxide Pr(2)NiO(4+delta) a mixed conducting oxide with the K(2)NiF(4)-type structure was evaluated as cathode for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells (T = 873 K) The electrochemical performance of the cathode has been improved by optimization of the microstructure of the porous cathode combined with the use of a ceria barrier layer in between the cathode and zirconia electrolyte Both low polarization and ohmic resistances were obtained using Pr(2)NiO(4+delta)-powders with a median particle size of 04 mu m and sintering the screen printed layer at a sintering temperature of about 1353 K for 1 h These manufacturing conditions resulted in a cathode microstructure with well established connections between the cathode particles and good adhesion of the cathode on the electrolyte Full-sized anode supported cells have been manufactured using the same process conditions for the Pr(2)NiO(4+delta) cathode and tested The best results were obtained when using a dense Ce(0 8)Gd(0 2)O(1 9) (20CGO) barrier layer While a complete optimization of the cell preparation has not yet been achieved the electrochemical performances of anode supported cells with Pr(2)NiO(4+delta) are higher than those with the well known state-of-the-art La(0 6)Sr(0 4)Fe(0 8)Co(0 2)O(3-delta) ( LSFC) material (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved