Long term behaviors of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 and La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3 as cathodes for solid oxide fuel cells

This work studies the electrochemical performance and stability of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 (LSM) and La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3 (LSCF) cathodes in a AISI441 interconnect/cathode/YSZ electrolyte half-cell configuration at 800 °C for 500 h. Ohmic resistance and polarization resistance of the cathodes are analyzed by deconvoluting the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results. The LSM cathode has much higher resistance than the LSCF electrode even though the respective cathode resistance either decreases or stays stable over the long term thermal treatment. During the 500 h thermal treatment, dramatic elemental distribution changes influence the electrochemical behaviors of the cathodes. Chromium diffusion from the interconnect into the LSM electrode at triple phase boundaries (TPBs) leads to segregation of Sr away from La and Mn. For the LSCF cathode, Sr and Co segregation is dominant. The fundamental processes at the TPBs are proposed. Overall, LSCF is a much preferred cathode material because of its much smaller resistance for the 500 h thermal treatment time.