La(Ni,Fe)O3 as a cathode material with high tolerance to chromium poisoning for solid oxide fuel cells

A novel cathode material, La(Ni0.4Fe0.6)O3 (LNF), is synthesized by a solid-state reaction for applications in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The electrochemical performance of the LNF cathode is investigated for the oxygen reduction reaction at 900 °C in the presence of a Fe–Cr alloy interconnect, and compared with (La,Sr)MnO3 (LSM) cathodes. Under these conditions, the LNF electrode has a more stable electrochemical activity than that of the LSM electrode. There is no deposition of chromium species on the electrode surface or at the LNF electrodeyttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte interface after passage of 200 mA cm−2 for 20 h at 900 °C. By contrast, a significant amount of chromium species is preferentially deposited at the LSMYSZ interface regions for the LSM electrode. The results demonstrate that the LNF electrode has high tolerance to chromium poisoning, and is, therefore, promising as a SOFC cathode when using chromia-forming alloy interconnects.