Platinum-based nanocomposite electrodes for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells with extended lifetime

Due to its high catalytic activity and convenient fabrication procedure that uses physical vapor deposition (PVD), nanofabricated platinum (Pt) is widely used for low temperature operating solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFC). However, the poor thermal stability of nanofabricated Pt accelerates cell performance degradation. To solve this problem, we apply a thermal barrier coating and use the dispersion hardening process for the nanofabrication of Pt by sputter device. Through morphological and electrochemical data, GDC modified nano-porous Pt electrodes shows improved performance and thermal stability at the operating temperature of 500 °C. While the peak power density of pure Pt sample is 6.16 mW cm−2 with a performance degradation of 43% in an hour, the peak power density of the GDC modified Pt electrodes are in range of 7.42-7.91 mW cm−2 with a 7-16% of performance degradation.