Enhanced oxygen reduction activity on surface-decorated perovskite La0.6Ni0.4FeO3 cathode for solid oxide fuel cells

Surface-decoration is a new and promising approach to improve solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) cathode materials since it can strongly affect the oxygen reduction activity. Here we report the application of novel infiltration method to enhance the oxygen reduction reaction of LaNi0.6Fe0.4O3−δ (LNF) cathode decorated with different nano catalysts, i.e., Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3−δ (BSCF), Ba0.9La0.1FeO3−δ (BLF), Sm0.2Ce0.8O3−δ (SDC), and Pr6O11. Through surface decoration with various nano catalysts, the electrochemical activity of LNF cathode was investigated under open circuit voltage (OCV) and direct current (DC) bias voltage conditions and the inherent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) mechanism was discussed. The strongly improved electrochemical performance at OCV suggest that infiltration is an effective way to costly promote the oxygen reduction activity of LNF electrode. Under applied cathodic potential, the electrochemical performance of various catalyst decorated LNF cathode demonstrated different oxygen reduction promotion mechanisms.