• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.195-201
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• 2018

To enhance the performance of cathodes at low temperatures, a Cu-coated cathode is prepared, and its electrochemical performance is examined by testing its use in a single cell. At $620^{\circ}C$ and a current density of $150mAcm^{-2}$, a single cell containing the Cu-coated cathode has a significantly higher voltage (0.87 V) during the initial operation than does that with an uncoated cathode (0.79 V). According to EIS analysis, the high voltage of the cell with the Cu-coated cathode is due to the dramatic decrease in the high-frequency resistance related to electrochemical reactions. From XPS analysis, it is confirmed that the Cu is initially in the form of $Cu_2O$ and is converted into CuO after 150 h of operation, without any change in the state of the Ni or Li. Therefore, the high initial cell voltage is confirmed to be due to $Cu_2O$. Because $Cu_2O$ is catalytically active toward $O_2$ adsorption and dissociation, $Cu_2O$ on a NiO cathode enhances cell performance and reduces cathode polarization. However, the cell with the Cu-coated cathode does not maintain its high voltage because $Cu_2O$ is oxidized to CuO, which demonstrates similar catalytic activity toward $O_2$ as NiO.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.186-192
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• 2013

In order to reduce the costs and to improve the durability of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), the operating temperature should be decreased while the power density is maintained as much as possible. However, lowering the operating temperature increases the cathode interfacial polarization resistances dramatically, limiting the performance of low-temperature SOFC at especially purely electronic conducting cathode. To improve cathode performance at low temperature, the number of reaction sites for the oxygen reduction should be increased by using a mixed ionic and electronic conducting (MIEC) material. In this study, anode-supported fuel cells with two different thicknesses of the MIEC cathode were fabricated and tested at various operating temperatures. The anode supported cell with $32.5{\mu}m$-thick BSCFZn-LSCF cathode layer showed much lower polarization resistance than that with $3.2{\mu}m$ thick cahtode and higher power density especially at low temperature. The effects of cathode layer thickness on the electrochemical performance are discussed with analysis of impedance spectra.