A high-performance SDC-infiltrated nanoporous silver cathode with superior thermal stability for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Vol. 6; no. 17; pp. 7357 - 7363
• Main Authors: Lee, Tsung-Han, Fan, Liangdong, Yu, Chen-Chiang, Wiria, Florencia Edith, Su, Pei-Chen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 2018
• Subjects: Cathode sputtering; cathodes; Cerium oxides; Degradation; Electrochemical analysis; Electrochemistry; Fuel cells; Fuel technology; Heat treatment; Infiltration; Low temperature; Nanoparticles; nanopores; nanosilver; Platinum; Samarium; Silver; Solid oxide fuel cells; temperature; Thermal stability; Thin films
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/c8ta01104d

Superior thermal stability of a nanoporous silver thin film cathode is enabled by covering the silver nanoparticles with a thin layer of samarium-doped ceria (SDC). A simple solution infiltration process followed by post heat treatment at 500 °C is applied to coat a thin SDC layer over inkjet-printed silver nanoparticle thin films to physically confine the silver nanoparticles to prevent thermal agglomeration. The electrochemical performance of the SDC-infiltrated silver cathode also surpasses that of both a non-infiltrated silver cathode and a typical sputtered nanoporous platinum cathode. A 60 hour fuel cell current stability test using the SDC-infiltrated silver cathode shows only 12.4% current degradation, which is significantly lower than 73.6% degradation from the fuel cell using a non-infiltrated silver cathode. A simple and effective infiltration method is demonstrated to improve the thermal stability and electrochemical performance of a nanoporous silver cathode.