Engineered nanofunctional thin films as interfacial layers to enhance performance and durability of SOFCs

Abstract

A strategy to improve the performance and durability of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is to increase the cathodic activity and decrease the interfacial resistance between the cathode and electrolyte. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) has been shown to be a promising method to engineer functional interlayers to enhance the cell's performance. In the present study, a bilayer consisting of Sm0.2Ce0.8O2−δ (SDC) barrier layer (BL) and a nanocomposite consisting of SDCLa0.8Sr0.2MnO3−δ (SDC-LSM) employed as a cathode functional layer were deposited by PLD in an anode supported SOFC. The fuel cell showed maximum power density of 0.30 W∙cm−2 at 750 °C. Most importantly, a durability test carried out for 700 h at 750 °C showed a remarkably stable performance of the fuel cell.