• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.1070-1077
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• 1998

Effect of current collecting layer on the cathode was characterized by AC impedance spectroscopy at 800$^{\circ}C$ under flowing air. LSM-YSZ composite cathode showed lower polarization resistance due to the in-crease of triple phase (LSM/YSZ/Pore) boundary length by incorporation of YSZ. Ohmic resistance {{{{ {R }_{1 } }} of LSM-YSZ was higher than that of pure LSM however because in-plane resistance of the cathode was fair-ly high due to its high specific resistivity. To reduce the in-plane resistance of LSM-YSZ cathode cathode side current collecting layer was required. Ohmic resistance {{{{ {R }_{1 } }} was reduced after forming LSM current col-lecting layer on the LSM-YSZ cathode. In case of pure LSM cathode the formation of Pt, or LSCO current collecting layer reduced polarization resistance {{{{ {R }_{p } }} but ohmic resistance {{{{ {R }_{1 } }} was relatively constant. After annealing of LSM cathode with Pt current collector at higher temperature polarization resistance {{{{ {R }_{p } }} was in-creased but ohmic resistance {{{{ {R }_{1 } }} was constant. These phenomena indicate that Pt or LSCo current col-lecting layers act as a catalytic layer for oxygen reduction of pure LSM cathode. LSCO current collector was effective in reducing the ohmic and polarization resistance of LSM-YSZ cathode.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.612-616
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• 2000

The effect of Co dopant on the (La, Sr)MnO3 cathode was investigated. La2Zr2O7 and SrZrO3 were formed as the reaction products between YSZ and LSMC. The reactivity of LSMC with YSZ increased with increasing Co content. However, the cathodic polarization resistance decreased with increasing Co doping. Therefore, doping Co at Mn site in the (La, Sr)MnO3 cathode was effective on controlling the polarization resistance of the cathode. The polarization property of LSMC-YSZ composite(60 wt%: 40 wt%) cathode was better than that of LSMC single cathode.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.110-115
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• 2011

$Gd_2O_3$-doped $CeO_2$ (GDC) and $La_{0.6}Sr_{0.4}Co_{0.2}Fe_{0.8}O_3$ (LSCF) composite cathode materials were prepared in order to be applied to intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells. The electrochemical polarization was evaluated using ac impedance spectroscopy involving geometric restriction at the interface between an ionic electrolyte and a mixed-conducting cathode. In order to optimize the cathode composites applicable to a GDC electrolyte, the cathode composites were evaluated in terms of polarization losses with regard to a given electrolyte, i.e., GDC electrolyte. The polarization increased significantly with decreasing temperature and was critically dependent on the compositions of the composite cathodes. The optimized cathode composite was found to consist of GDC 50 wt% and LSCF 50 wt%; the corresponding normalized polarization loss was calculated to be 0.64 at $650^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.44 no.12
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• pp.727-732
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• 2007

In order to fabricate a highly performing cathode for low-temperature type solid oxide fuel cells working at below $700^{\circ}C$, electrode microstructure control and electrode polarization measurement were performed with an electronic conductor, $La_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}MnO_3$ (LSM) and a mixed conductor, $La_{0.6}Sr_{0.4}Co_{0.2}Fe_{0.8}O_3$(LSCF). For both cathode materials, when $Sm_{0.2}Ce_{0.8}O_2$ (SDC) buffer layer was formed between the cathode and yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte, interfacial reaction products were effectively prevented at the high temperature of cathode sintering and the electrode polarization was also reduced. Moreover, cathode polarization was greatly reduced by applying the SDC sol-gel coating on the cathode pore surface, which can increase triple phase boundary from the electrolyte interface to the electrode surface. For the LSCF cathode with the SDC buffer layer and modified by the SDC sol-gel coating on the cathode pore surface, the cathode resistance was as low as 0.11 ${\Omega}{\cdot}cm^2$ measured at $700^{\circ}C$ in air atmosphere.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.349-352
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• 2009

In this study, the relation between the performance degradation of SOFC single cell and the increase of polarization resistance for the cathode is investigated. $Pr_{0.3}Sr_{0.7}Co_{0.3}Fe_{0.7}O_3$(PSCF3737, $19.4{\times}10^{-6}K^{-1}$) and $Gd_{0.1}Ce_{0.9}O_2$ (CGO91, $12{\times}10^{-6}K^{-1}$) are used as a cathode and an electrolyte, respectively. The polarization resistance of cathode is increased due to the delamination caused by thermal expansion coefficient difference. The voltage drop with 10%/1000h decline rate occurs during long-term, when the interface between the cathode and the electrolyte is delaminated due to TEC difference.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.125-131
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• 2001

A long-term variation of electrode polarization in the MCFC has been analyzed successfully using a single cell with a Au, $CO_2/O_2$ reference electrode Four different cells with different components were operated and their electrode polarizations were analyzed. As published in the literatures, the cathode polarization was larger than that of the anode. The more stable operation of a single cell with the Al-coated cell frame up to 6,000hrs indicates that the corrosion at the cell frame, particularly wet seal area, plays an important role to determine the lifetime of a MCFC. At the initial stage of the cell operation, the voltage of the cell using a cathode stabilized by the $LiCoO_2$ coating was relatively low due to the high cathode polarization. As the cell was operated and the stabilized cathode was lithiated sufficiently, the cathode polarization decreased and the cell voltage was recovered. It was observed that the voltage of the cell using the $Li_2CO_3/Na_2CO_3$ electrolyte fluctuated with operation time and the cathode polarization fluctuated along with the cell voltage quite similarly. Although the mechanisms of the voltage fluctuation were not clear yet, the results imply that the voltage fluctuation was related with a reaction in the cathode side. After testing every single cell, the cathode polarization increased with the steep decrease in the cell voltage. Thus, the cathode should be improved in order to develop more durable MCFC.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.73-84
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• 2014

Fuel cells of proton exchange membrane type (PEMFC) working with hydrogen in the anode and ambient air in the cathode ('air breathing') have been prepared and characterized. The cells have been studied with variable thickness of the cathode catalyst layer ($L_{CL}$), maintaining constant the platinum and ionomer loads. Polarization curves and electrochemical active area measurements have been carried out. The polarization curves are analyzed in terms of a model for a flooded passive air breathing cathode. The analysis shows that $L_{CL}$ affects to electrochemical kinetics and mass transport processes inside the electrode, as reflected by two parameters of the polarization curves: the Tafel slope and the internal resistance. The observed decrease in Tafel slope with decreasing $L_{CL}$ shows improvements in the oxygen reduction kinetics which we attribute to changes in the catalyst layer structure. A decrease in the internal resistance with $L_{CL}$ is attributed to lower protonic resistance of thinner catalyst layers, although the observed decrease is lower than expected probably because the electronic conduction starts to be hindered by more hydrophilic character and thicker ionomer film.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.696-696
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• 2013

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) have been gaining academic/industrial attention due to the unique high efficiency and minimized pollution emission. SOFCs are an electrochemical system composed of dissimilar materials which operates at relatively high temperatures ranging from 800 to 1000oC. The cell performance is critically dependent on the inherent properties and integration processing of the constituents, a cathode, an electrolyte, an anode, and an interconnect in addition to the sealing materials. In particular, the gas transport, ion transport, and by-product removal also affect the cell performance, in terms of open cell voltages, and cell powers. In particular, the polarization of cathode materials is one of the main sources which affects the overall function in SOFCs. Up to now, there have been studies on the materials design and microstructure design of the component materials. The current work reports the effect of thin film processing on cathode polarization in solid oxide fuel cells. The polarization issues are discussed in terms of dc- and ac-based electrical characterizations. The potential of thin film processing to the applicability to SOFCs is discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.44 no.12
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• pp.715-719
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• 2007

STS444 with or without $La_{0.9}Sr_{0.1}MnO_3$ (LSM)-coating was contacted to $La_{0.6}Sr_{0.4}Co_{0.2}Fe_{0.8}O_3$ (LSCF) cathode on various electrolyte materials and the polarization resistance $(R_p)$ was measured by impedance spectroscopy. By making a symmetric half-cell and contacting only one side of the cathode with the interconnect, the effect of chromium (Cr) poisoning was separated from the aging effects. When the LSCF cathode was contacted with LSM-coated STS (stainless steel), $R_p$ of LSCF was lower than that contacted with the uncoated STS. Impedance patterns measured for the working electrode (W.E.), the counter electrode (C.E.) at $600^{\circ}C$ in air were analyzed. Normalized data of net Cr effect showed that $Ce_{0.9}Gd_{0.1}O_2$ (GDC) electrolyte is more tolerant to the chromium poisoning than $La_{0.9}Sr_{0.1}Ga_{0.8}Mg_{0.2}$ (LSGM) or 8 mol% $Y_2O_3-doped$ $ZrO_2$ (YSZ) electrolytes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.30-31
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• 2006

The LSCF cathode for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell was investigated to develop high performance unit cell at intermediate temperature by modified oxalate method with different electrolyte. The LSCF precursors using oxalic acid, ethanol and $NH_4OH$ solution were prepared at $80^{\circ}C$, and pH was controlled as 2, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. The synthesis precursor powders were calcined at $800^{\circ}C$, $1000^{\circ}C$ and $1200^{\circ}C$ for 4hrs. Unit cells were prepared with the calcined LSCF cathode, buffer layer between cathode and each electrolyte that is the LSGM, YSZ, ScSZ and CeSZ. The synthesis LSCF powders by modified oxalate method were measured by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. The interfacial polarization resistance of cell was characterized by Solatron 1260 analyzer. The crystal of LSCF powders show single phase at pH 2, 6, 7, 8 and 9, and the average particle size was about $3{\mu}m$. The electric conductivity of synthesis LSCF cathode which was calcined at $1200^{\circ}C$ shows the highest value at pH 7. The cell consist of GDC had the lowest interfacial resistance (about 950 S/cm@650) of the cathode electrode. The polarization resistance of synthesis LSCF cathode by modified oxalate method has the value from 4.02 to 7.46ohm at $650^{\circ}C$. GDC among the electrolytes, shows the lowest polarization resistance.