Enhancing thermal-stability of metal electrodes with a sputtered gadolinia-doped ceria over-layer for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Cathodic activation loss is the dominant loss mechanism in the operation of low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs). The thermal degradation of metallic cathodes decreases the performance of LT-SOFCs, causing practical issues in long-term operation. In this paper, we investigate the effect of the sputtered gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) over-layer on the thermal stability of platinum (Pt) cathodes. The thermal stability of Pt cathodes with 23 nm-thick GDC over-layers significantly increased compared to that of the Pt-only cathodes after 2hrs' operation at 450 °C. (<4% vs. 17% performance degradation, respectively).