Because of the excellent catalytic
activity of nanoparticles, their
in situ exsolution on perovskite surfaces has received extensive attention
in the field of catalysis. Herein, a unique A- and B-site coexsolved
double perovskite, SrBiFeTiO6−δ (SBFT), is
used as an anode material in a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). A study
of its crystal structure confirmed that the cubic structure of the
SBFT perovskite has reasonable structural stability under a hydrogen
(H2) atmosphere, even though metallic Bi and Fe exsolve
from the perovskite lattice. Electrical conductivity results show
that the exsolved nanoparticles improve the conductivity of the perovskite.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results indicate that the SBFT surface
features Ti3+/4+, Fe3+/2+/0, Bi3+/0, and Sr2+ valence states. The output peak power densities
of a single cell with SBFT–Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9 as an anode are 280 and 503 mW cm–2 in ethanol and under a H2 atmosphere at 800 °C,
respectively. In ethanol, at 800 °C, the fuel cell is relatively
stable for over 30 h under a voltage of 0.5 V. All of the results
show that the coexsolving of elements on a perovskite is a promising
material design approach for creating SOFC anodes that have excellent
properties.