Electrochemical performance of nanostructured IT-SOFC cathodes with different morphologies

LAURA BAQUÉ; ELISABETH DJURADO; CECILE ROSSIGNOL; DANIEL MARINHA; ALBERTO CANEIRO; ADRIANA SERQUIS

Viena

Encuentro; 216th Electrochemical Society (ECS) Meeting; 2009

The Electrochemical Society

In this work, the electrochemical performance of La0.4Sr0.6Co0.8Fe0.2O3 (LSCF) cathodes was studied for different morphologies. LSCF powders have been prepared by three different methods: an acetic acid-based chemical route, an hexamethylenetetramine (HTMA) chemical route and spray pyrolysis. The cathode films were fabricated by spin coating inks, starting from these powders, onto Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95 ceramic substrates. We found that nanostructured LSCF samples can be obtained by all methods, but with different morphologies. In particular, spray pyrolysis method allows the attainment of LSCF cathode films with an atypical microstructure (i.e. spherical particle shape, nanometric grain sizes and large and open porosity). We show that the electrochemical properties of LSCF cathodes films strongly depend on microstructure and morphology and cathode polarization resistance can decrease considerably if optimized synthesis parameters are used.