Low Area Specific Resistance La-Doped Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Nanocomposite Thin Film Cathodes for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Applications.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39588787.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c03679 and PMC identifier 11639050.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
In the context of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) thin films have emerged as a leading material type to overcome performance limitations in cathodes. Such VAN films combine conventional cathodes like La<sub><i>x</i></sub>Sr<sub>1-<i>x</i></sub>Co<sub><i>y</i></sub>Fe<sub>1-<i>y</i></sub>O<sub>3</sub> (LSCF) and La<sub>1-x</sub>Sr<sub><i>x</i></sub>MnO<sub>3</sub> (LSM) together with highly O<sup>2-</sup> ionic conducting materials including yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) or doped CeO<sub>2</sub>. Next-generation SOFCs will benefit from the exceptionally high ionic conductivity (1 S cm<sup>-1</sup> at 730 °C) of Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-based materials. Therefore, an opportunity exists to develop Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-based VAN cathodes. Herein, we present the first growth and characterization of a Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-based VAN cathode, containing epitaxial La-doped Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> (LDBO) columns embedded in a LSM matrix. Our novel VANs exhibit low area specific resistance (ASR) (8.3 Ω cm<sup>2</sup> at 625 °C), representing ∼3 orders of magnitude reduction compared to planar LSM. Therefore, by demonstrating a high-performance Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-based cathode, this work provides an important foundation for future Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-based VAN SOFCs.