LSCF–GDC composite particles for solid oxide fuel cells cathodes prepared by facile mechanical method

•A simple mechanical method to synthesize LSCF–GDC composite powder was proposed.•The composite powder was synthesized by 20 min mechanical treatment without heating.•The synthesized powder formed composite particles consisting of nano-sized particles.•This method is very promising for producing high-quality composite powders for SOFC.

La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3 (LSCF)–Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95 (GDC) composite is one of the most promising cathode materials for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFC). However, currently most commonly used synthesis techniques for preparation of LSCF–GDC composite powders are very complicated and energy-consuming. In this study, a facile mechanical method to synthesize La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3 (LSCF)–Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95 (GDC) composite powder was proposed. Such composite powder was formed by mechanical treatment of La2O3, Sr(OH)2, Co3O4, Fe2O3, and GDC powders using a high-speed attrition-type mill. The results revealed that the LSCF–GDC composite powder was successfully synthesized through a short-duration (20 min) mechanical treatment, and the synthesized powder formed composite particles consisting of nano-sized particles. Furthermore, the resultant cathode after sintering at 900 °C exhibited very low polarization resistances of 0.08, 0.17, 0.38, and 0.69 Ω cm2 at temperatures of 800, 750, 700, and 650 °C, respectively.

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