Silver modified cathode for a micro-tubular, single-chamber solid oxide fuel cell

Micro-tubular, solid oxide fuel cells consisting of nickel, yttria-stabilized zirconia (Ni–YSZ) anode, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte and lanthanum strontium cobaltite ferrite–gadolinium doped ceria (LSCF–GDC) cathode have been developed and operated under single-chamber conditions, utilizing methane/air mixture. The cell performance was compared with a silver modified cathode by the addition of 10wt% silver-paste in LSCF–GDC cathode. The cells with and without silver addition yielded maximum power densities of 118.75 mW cm−2 and 61.53 mW cm−2 at 700 °C, respectively. The results demonstrate that silver is a good candidate for enhancing the oxidation reduction kinetics via improved adsorption, desorption, dissociation and subsequent diffusion. However, long term performance of the silver modified cathode is not guaranteed under single-chamber conditions.