Infiltrated Nanofiber-Based Nanostructured Electrodes for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

The feasibility and opportunity of nanostructured and defect-engineered electrodes for exceptional performance and stability of solid oxide fuel cells operating at intermediate temperatures (500-700 degrees C) are reported in this study. The electrode is designed with infiltrated La0.4Sr0.6MnO3-delta (LSM) nanoparticles as oxygen reduction reaction catalysts on an yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) nanofiber scaffold with a controlled sintering temperature of 800-1200 degrees C for optimized nanostructures and defect concentration of the nanofiber scaffold. Nanostructured electrode with the lowest sintering temperature of 800 degrees C exhibits similar to 8.1 times higher specific surface area and similar to 1.6 times higher oxygen vacancy concentration than that with a sintering temperature of 1200 degrees C. The cell with a sintering temperature of 800 degrees C demonstrates an outstanding performance of similar to 2.11 and 1.09 W/cm(2) at 700 and 600 degrees C, respectively, with excellent stability for 300 h under the current density of 1.5 A/cm(2) at 750 degrees C.

Automated summary

This study reports the feasibility and opportunity of nanostructured and defect-engineered electrodes for solid oxide fuel cells operating at intermediate temperatures (500-700 degrees C). The nanostructured electrode with the lowest sintering temperature of 800 degrees C exhibits significantly higher specific surface area and oxygen vacancy concentration compared to the electrode sintered at 1200 degrees C. The cell with a sintering temperature of 800 degrees C demonstrates outstanding performance and stability under different temperatures and current densities.