Development of nanostructured La0.8Sr0.2MnO3−δ-Er0.4Bi1.6O3 cathodes via an infiltration process with different polymeric agents for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Dual-phase composite cathodes consisting of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3−δ (LSM) nanoparticles on the Er0.4Bi1.6O3 (ESB) scaffold have been synthesized via an infiltration technique using different polymeric agents for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell (IT-SOFC) applications. It was found that the LSM infiltration with Triton-X yielded well-distributed LSM nano-catalysts (<50 nm) on the ESB surface, while the use of glycine resulted in the highly agglomerated 'layer-like' structure. The nanostructured LSM-ESB fabricated with Triton-X exhibited low electrode resistance of 0.23 Ω-cm2 at 650 °C, which is ∼60% lower than that of the conventional LSM-ESB (0.56 Ω-cm2). Electrochemical impedance analysis revealed that this performance enhancement is primarily attributed to the enhanced charge transfer process of oxygen reduction reactions with homogeneously increased reaction sites in the characteristic nanostructure.