Microstructural characterization of La0.4Sr0.6Co0.8Fe0.2O3-d films deposited by dip coating

LAURA BAQUÉ; ADRIANA SERQUIS

S. C. de Bariloche

Conferencia; 13th Internacional Conference on Solid Films and Surfaces (ICSFS – 13); 2006

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) are being extensively studied due to their possible utilization to produce electrical energy in a wide power range (from 1 kW up to few hundreds of kW). In recent years most effort was addressed to enhance cathode performance in order to lower the operation temperature (from 900ºC to 600ºC). Previous studies indicated that cathode film microstructure is a key parameter [1]. Therefore, efforts have to be done on the synthesis processes of these materials in an attempt to prepare cathodes with different micro/nanostructures.The aim of this work is to study the relation between the microstructure and deposition parameters of the same composition films deposited by different methods. Perovskite oxide cobaltites with composition La0.4Sr0.6Co0.8Fe0.2O3-d were prepared by a sol-gel route to facilitate the formation of nanopowder oxides. Then, cathodes were deposited onto porous ceramic substrates, like the usual electrolytes Cerium Gadolinium Oxide (CGO), by spin coating and dip-coating. The structure and morphology of the layers were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM),  respectively. The microstructure was correlated with the electrochemical performance by using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. [1] Baqué L., Serquis A.,  Grunbaum N., Prado F., Caneiro A., Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 928  GG16-03 (2006).