Development of lanthanum-doped praseodymium cuprates as cathode materials for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Electrochemical properties of the Pr2-xLaxCuO4 (x = 0.05; 0.1; 0.3) (PLCO) oxides in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) were examined towards their applicability as cathode materials for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs). Pr1.95La0.05CuO4 (PLCO0.05) was defined as a favorable basis for the composite cathode material due to its conducting, thermomechanical and electrocatalytic properties. The optimization of the annealing temperature of the PLCO0.05-xGDC composite electrode deposited on GDC solid electrolyte surface had shown that the lowest area specific resistance (ASR) was achieved at 850 °C. The highest electrochemical activity in ORR was achieved for the composition containing 40 wt% GDC in the temperature range of 600-750 °C. The application of PLCO0.05-40GDC composite cathode instead of pure PLCO0.05 made it possible to reduce ASR up to 10 times at 700 °C in air (from 0.87 Ω·cm2 (x = 0 wt%) to 0.08 Ω·cm2 (x = 40 wt%)). According to the data obtained, PLCO0.05-40GDC can be considered as a promising cathode material for IT-SOFCs.