Synthesis and characterization of hierarchical porous LiNiCuZn-oxides as potential electrode materials for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells

•LiNiCuZn oxide with hierarchical porous structure was synthesized.•The potential application in SOFC is tested.•An artemia cyst shell was applied as the natural biotemplate.

Low temperature, 300–600 °C solid oxide fuel cell (LTSOFC) is one of the hot areas in recent fuel cell development. In order to develop high performance LTSOFCs, compatible electrodes are highly demanded. In this work, a lithium transition metal oxide electrode material with hierarchical porous structure was synthesized. The phase structure was analysed by XRD and microstructure was studied by SEM. The as-synthesized material was constructed to devices using the SDC (samarium doped ceria)-carbonate nanocomposite (NSDC) as the electrolyte to test the OCV (open circuit voltage), which indicates good catalytic performance for H2 at 600 °C.