Electrochemical properties of electrospinning-fabricated layered perovskite used in cathode materials for a low temperature-operating solid oxide fuel cell

Abstract In this study, the microstructural and electrochemical properties of linear type nanofibers obtained by adding SmBa 0.5 Sr 0.5 Co 2 O 5+d (SBSCO) layered perovskite oxide were investigated for use as cathode materials in a low temperature-operating solid oxide fuel cell. Linear type SBSCO fiber and Ce 0.9 Gd 0.1 O 2−d coated SBSCO-fiber were fabricated using the electrospinning process. It was confirmed that the area specific resistance (0.75 Ω cm 2 ) of the obtained SBSCO-fiber cathode was much lower than that (1.25 Ω cm 2 ) of a powder-type SBSCO cathode at 550 °C. The result shows that the SBSCO fiber cathode exhibits lower polarization resistance in low temperature ranges than the powder SBSCO cathode materials do. A significantly lower activation energy (0.76 eV) was observed in fiber SBSCO cathode than in the nanostructured La 0.8 Sr 0.2 Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 O 3−d ones which were used as control at 1.53 eV.