Rational Design of Lower-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cathodes via Nanotailoring of Co-Assembled Composite Structures

A novel in situ co-assembled nanocomposite LSM-Bi1.6Er0.4O3 (ESB) (icn-LSMESB) was obtained by conjugated wet-chemical synthesis. It showed an enhancement of the cathode polarization at 600 degrees C by > 140 times relative to conventional LSM-Y0.08Zr0.84O1.92 (YSZ) cathodes and exceptional solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) performance of >2 Wcm(-2) below 750 degrees C. This demonstrates that this novel cost-effective and broadly applicable process provides new opportunities for performance enhancement of energy storage and conversion devices by nanotailoring of composite electrodes.