Fabrication of solid oxide fuel cell supported on specially performed ferrite-based perovskite cathode

La0.6Sr0.4FeO3 (LSF) is a promising material for cathode support application because its thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) is matching with typical electrolytes and it has sufficient level of ionic and electronic conductivity. In this paper, the LSF was used as a support for fabrication dense and nanocrystalline film of (Ce0.8Gd0.2O1.95) CGO.

The LSF support was fabricated by iso-axial pressing of powder, which was prepared using modified Pechini method. Several fabrication parameters were altered in order to obtain support with required density, conductivity and strength. This included different sintering temperatures, addition of pore former and variation of compaction pressure.

The LSF powders were examined by X-ray diffractometry and did not show any other phases. The electrical conductivity and density of LSF supports were investigated in order to select optimal support for CGO film deposition. The electrical measurements indicated that porosity highly influence the electronic conductivity of LSF.

A low temperature and cost-effective method, called net shape technique, was used to deposit CGO film on LSF. Impedance spectroscopy measurements (IS) of obtained structure showed that electrical conductivity of CGO film and calculated activation energy is in good agreement with literature data. SEM images indicated that the film has no cracks and is about 4μm thick.