Rational design of favourite lithium-ion cathode materials as electrodes for symmetrical solid oxide fuel cells

Abstract Symmetric solid oxide fuel cells (SSOFCs) have typically drawn interest because of their ability to boost the chemical and thermal stability between electrolytes and electrodes as well as to reduce the manufacturing cost. However, the poor catalytic activity of symmetrical electrodes at low temperatures restricts the development of high-performance SSOFCs. Herein, we employ a well-known Li-ion battery cathode Li(Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3)O2(LNCM) material to SOFCs as a symmetrical electrode that possesses excellent catalytic activity toward both the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In addition, the Schottky junction formed by reduced LNCM at the anode side with the electrolyte eliminates the possibility of electronic shorting circuit problem. Meanwhile, the formation of online Li2CO3 makes the electrolyte membrane fully dense by filling the pores. All factors were combined to show adequate performance by LNCM as symmetric electrode-based SOFCs. Our work successfully demonstrates the rational design of favourable lithium-ion cathode materials for symmetrical electrode applications in low-temperature SOFCs.