Study of reversible solid oxide fuel cell with different oxygen electrode materials

This study reports the manufacturing of its core device-hydrogen electrode supported cell of reversible solid oxide fuel cell (RSOFC) with use of different oxygen electrode (La0.8Sr0.2MnO3−δ = LSM, La0.8Sr0.2MnO3/yttria stabilized zirconia = LSM/YSZ) and its operation under solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) mode. In order to lower difficulties during cell assembly, acceptable curvature of hydrogen electrode supported cell is accomplished with improvement of manufacturing process. Also reported are the resulting performances, both in SOEC and SOFC modes, as a function of its operating parameters such as temperature. We found that the RSOFC performance improved with increasing temperature for all oxygen electrodes-LSM, LSM + YSZ. SOFC performance with oxygen electrode-LSM is a better option while SOFC/SOEC recycling with oxygen electrode-LSM/YSZ is more durable. Identical material composition and no obvious weak connection between oxygen electrode-LSM/YSZ and electrolyte after SOFC/SOEC cycling tests are the main reasons leading to minor performance drops compared to that with electrode - LSM.