Effective improvement of interface modified strontium titanate based solid oxide fuel cell anodes by infiltration with nano-sized palladium and gadolinium-doped cerium oxide

The development of low temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) anodes by infiltration of Pd/Gd-doped cerium oxide (CGO) electrocatalysts in Nb-doped SrTiO3 (STN) backbones has been investigated. Modification of the electrode/electrolyte interface by thin layer of spin-coated CGO (400-500 nm) contributed to a significant improvement in performance of the STN backbones and infiltrated electrodes. The improvement is due to the result of CGO enrichment at the interface. The impedance analysis showed that addition of Pd further increased the electrode reaction rate with a factor 10 with respect to the CGO electrocatalysts. Very low electrode polarization resistances of 0.055 Ω cm2 (after excluding the gas diffusion limitation contribution) and 1.2 Ω cm2 at 600 °C and 400 °C, respectively, have been obtained in 3% H2/H2O. A gradual decrease in polarization resistance was achieved with increasing loading of Pd-CGO electrocatalyst. The microstructural analysis of the infiltrated Pd-CGO electrocatalyst on STN revealed a homogenous coating of Pd and CGO nanoparticles.