A High Performance La_0.2Sr_0.8Co_0.8Fe_0.2O_3-δ Catalyst As an Oxygen Electrode for Reversible Solid Oxide Cells at Intermediate Temperature

Abstract

Solid oxide cells (SOCs) have been reported as promising energy production and storage devices due to their high efficiency and low pollutant emissions. A key barrier to achieve high performance of SOCs is high electrode polarization resistance which attributes to the sluggish kinetics of oxygen reduction reactions (ORRs) and oxygen evolution reactions (OERs) at reduced temperatures. One of the potential oxygen electrodes is a perovskite La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3- δ(LSCF6428) with mixed ionic and electronic conduction (MIEC) because of its considerable conductivities and good chemical compatibility with conventional electrolyte materials such as ceria-based oxides. However, upon long-term operation under fuel cell conditions, the LSCF6428 electrode is usually subjected to severe degradation of ORR kinetics owing to chemical instability. It has been well known that the tailoring the chemical composition of the perovskite material strongly modulates their electrochemical activities and oxygen ion transport properties. In this study, we synthesized the La0.2Sr0.8Co0.8Fe0.2O3- δ (LSCF2882) and systematically investigated its characteristics on intrinsic properties. In addition, we evaluated oxygen transport kinetics and electrochemical performance of LSCF2882 as an oxygen electrode for reversible SOC applications.