Fabrication of lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF) cathodes for high performance solid oxide fuel cells using a low price commercial inkjet printer

• LSCF cathode layer was fabricated by using modified HP inkjet printer.
• Customized LSCF ink is synthesized solving ceramic powder in a water-based solvent.
• Microstructure of the LSCF layer are determined by the gray level in the printing.
• SOFCs with the printed LSCF shows the maximum power of over 377 mW cm−2 at 600 °C.

In this study, we investigate a method to fabricate high quality lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF) cathodes for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) using a commercial low price inkjet printer. The ink source is synthesized by dissolving the LSCF nanopowder in a water-based solvent with a proper amount of surfactants. Microstructures of the LSCF layer, including porosity and thickness per printing scan cycle, are adjusted by grayscale in the printing image. It is successfully demonstrated that anode-supported SOFCs with optimally printed LSCF cathodes can produce decent power output, i.e., a maximum peak power density of 377 mW cm−2 at 600 °C, in our experiment. We expect that this approach can support the quick and easy prototyping and evaluating of a variety of cathode materials in SOFC research.