Zr and Y co-doped perovskite as a stable, high performance cathode for solid oxide fuel cells operating below 500 °C

Zr and Y co-doped perovskite BaCo 0.4 Fe 0.4 Zr 0.1 Y 0.1 O 3−δ (BCFZY0.1) was recently developed as a promising new cathode for protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs). Here, it is applied for the first time as a cathode for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs). It exhibits large lattice parameters, high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity, exceptional low-temperature performance, long-term stability, and excellent chemical compatability with ceria-based SOFC electrolytes. When BCFZY0.1 is used as the cathode in Ce 0.8 Gd 0.2 O 2−δ (GDC20)-based SOFCs, it enables a peak power density of 0.97 W cm −2 at 500 °C with 2500 hours stable performance and complete recoverability without any degradation after more than 80 fast thermal ramping cycles. Even at 350 °C, peak power density reaches 0.13 W cm −2 . It also shows good H 2 O and CO 2 tolerance.