GDC-Based Infiltrated Electrodes for Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cells (SOECs)

In this work, porous complex and metal-free cathodes based on a (La0.6Sr0.4) (Cr0.5Mn0.5) O-3 (LSCM) screen-printed backbone infiltrated with Ce0.9Gd0.1O2 (GDC) were fabricated for solid oxide electrolyzer cells. GDC infiltration has been optimized by structural and microstructural investigation and tested by electrochemical measurements in CO/CO2 mixtures. Infiltrated electrodes with a non-aqueous GDC solution showed the best electro-catalytic activity towards CO2 reduction, exhibiting a much lower polarization resistance, i.e., R-pol = 0.3 ohm cm(2) at 900 degrees C. The electrochemical performance of LSCM/GDCE in terms of R-pol is comparable to the best-performing Ni-YSZ cathode in the same operating conditions (R-pol = 0.23 ohm cm(2)).