Electrochemical performances of LaBaCuFeO5+x and LaBaCuCoO5+x as potential cathode materials for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Abstract Layered perovskite-structure oxides LaBaCuFeO 5+ x (LBCFO) and LaBaCuCoO 5+ x (LBCCO) were prepared and the electrical conductivity and electrochemical performance were investigated as potential cathode materials for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs). The electrical conductivity of LBCCO is much higher than that of LBCFO. Area specific resistances of LBCFO and LBCCO cathode materials on Ce 0.8 Sm 0.2 O 1.9 (SDC) electrolyte are as low as 0.21 Ω cm 2 and 0.11 Ω cm 2 at 700 °C, respectively. The maximum power density of the LBCFO/SDC/Ni-SDC and LBCCO/SDC/Ni-SDC cells with 300 μm thick electrolytes attains 557 mW cm −2 and 603 mW cm −2 at 800  o C, respectively. Preliminary results demonstrated that the layered perovskite-structure oxides LBCFO and LBCCO are very promising cathode materials for application in IT-SOFCs.