Lower Down both Ohmic and Cathode Polarization Resistances of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell via Hydrothermal Modified Gadolinia doped Ceria Barrier Layer

Abstract Hydrothermal reaction in Cerium and Gadolinium solution as an optimization method is developed and first reported for the densification of gadolinia doped ceria, the barrier layer between Zirconia electrolyte and (La,Sr)(Co,Fe)O3-δ cathode. This method is based on the hydrothermal reaction for nano particles in-situly grown on porous surface, to improve barrier layer density, alongside the sintering of LSCF cathode at 1075 °C. As a result, the ohmic resistances are prominently decreased by ∼16.4% at 750 °C for electrolyte supported symmetrical cell. Whereas, the cathode polarization resistance is decreased by as much as a factor of ∼3 from 0.3702 Ω·cm2 to 0.1325 Ω·cm2 at 750 °C and p O 2 = 0.21 a t m . Furthermore, the anode supported cell exhibits higher open circuit voltage, smaller area specific resistance, elevated performance output and less degradation. And this modified barrier layer shows reduced Sr migration in 300 hours operation at 750 °C. The hydrothermal reaction is demonstrated to prepare denser and sintering-active barrier layer with faster oxygen ion transfer and better interface connections, with large-scale application prospects and cost-competitiveness.