A novel composite cathode Er0.4Bi1.6O3–Pr0.5Ba0.5MnO3−δ for ceria-bismuth bilayer electrolyte high performance low temperature solid oxide fuel cells.

A novel composite cathode consisting of A-site disordered Pr 0.5 Ba 0.5 MnO 3−δ (PBM) and Er 0.4 Bi 1.6 O 3 (ESB) is developed for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with ceria-bismuth bilayer electrolyte. Based on Sm 0.075 Nd 0.075 Ce 0.85 O 2−δ |ESB (SNDC|ESB) bilayer structured film, the single cell NiO-SNDC|SNDC|ESB|ESB-PBM achieves an encouraging performance with the maximum power density (MPD) of 994 mW cm −2 and an interfacial polarization resistance (R p ) of 0.027 Ω cm 2 at 650 °C. Although a possible reaction between ESB and PBM has been identified in the cathode, the ascendant electrochemical performance including the very high fuel cell performance and R p obtained here can demonstrate that the novel cobalt-free composite cathode ESB-PBM is a preferable alternative for ceria-bismuth bilayer electrolyte high performance low temperature SOFCs (HPLT-SOFCs) and the interfacial reaction in the cathode seems not to be detrimental to the electrochemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]