Long-term Cell Testing of Interlayer-free Lanthanum Strontium Cobalt Ferrite Cathodes for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Sub-stoichiometric LSCF nanopowders with composition of (La0.6Sr0.40)0.95Co0.2Fe0.80O3-d were prepared using a nitrate-glycine process. The particle size is estimated to be 28.8 nm using the Scherrer equation. A sintering study and pull test was done to determine the quality of LSCF adhesion to the YSZ electrolyte. It was found that firing the cathode at 850oC does not provide the best adhesion, but button cell testing data indicate that the performance is stable over relatively long-term tests. The cell performance is not up to par to state-of-the-art Ni-YSZ/YSZ/SDC/LSCF where a barrier layer is used and the cathode is fired at high temperatures. Impedance data indicate that the reason for lower performance is due to higher cathode polarization. However, the results are promising and further studies are warranted because low temperature processing and the removal of the ceria layer can decrease fabrication costs..