High performance solid oxide fuel cells with Co1.5Mn1.5O4 infiltrated (La,Sr)MnO3-yittria stabilized zirconia cathodes

• Co1.5Mn1.5O4 nano-particles are infiltrated into the LSM-YSZ cathodes.
• The DRT method is used to analyze the EIS results.
• The ORR is greatly accelerated by the CMO particles at TPBs.

Solid oxide fuel cells with nano-sized Co1.5Mn1.5O4 (CMO) crystals infiltrated LSM-YSZ cathodes have been investigated using XRD, SEM, EIS and cell performance measurements. 20∼30 nm nanocrystals of Co1.5Mn1.5O4 are present on the surfaces of LSM and YSZ particles. The infiltrated cells display more than 2 times higher power density than the non-infiltrated cell under 0.7 V at the same temperature in 600–700 °C. The Co1.5Mn1.5O4 infiltration reduces both ohmic resistance and polarization resistance in the cells. The distribution of relaxation times (DRT) analysis of the EIS data depicts that oxygen reduction process is greatly accelerated on the infiltrated cathode, which is attributed to high catalytic activity of nano-sized CMO crystals.