Preparation of Anode Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) Based on BIT07 and Pr2NiO4+δ: Influence of the Presence of GDC Layer

In this work, we study the electrochemical performance of anode supported solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) based on perovskite-type materials: BaIn0.3Ti0.7O2.85 (BIT07) as an electrolyte, BIT07-Ni as a cermet anode and Pr2NiO4+δ as a cathode. Anode/electrolyte assemblies have been prepared by tape casting and co-firing and the cathode has been deposited by screen-printing. The performance of BIT07-Ni/BIT07/Pr2NiO4+δ cells has been determined between 600 and 750 °C under humidified (3% H2O) hydrogen as fuel and air as oxidant. The presence of an interfacial layer of gadolinia doped ceria (GDC) is also tested. Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements have also been carried out and allowed to differentiate between the series and polarization resistances. The power density obtained from the cell with GDC was 119.21 mW/cm2 at 700 °C, compared with 28.1 mW/cm2 for the cell without GDC thin layer. These results confirmed that the presence of a dense thin layer of GDC at the interface electrolyte/cathode is a very promising method for intermediate temperature SOFCs (IT-SOFCs) to increase the performance.