Analysis of Electrochemical Properties of LT-SOFCs According to Thickness of PrO x Cathode Interlayer

Ji-Woong Jeon, Jun-Geon Park, Geon-Hyeop Kim, Seung-Heon Lee, Jeong-Woo Shin () and Gu-Young Cho ()
Additional contact information
Ji-Woong Jeon: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin-si 16890, Republic of Korea
Jun-Geon Park: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin-si 16890, Republic of Korea
Geon-Hyeop Kim: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin-si 16890, Republic of Korea
Seung-Heon Lee: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin-si 16890, Republic of Korea
Jeong-Woo Shin: School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore
Gu-Young Cho: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin-si 16890, Republic of Korea

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are attracting attention as an eco-friendly power source because they show high power density. However, SOFC requires a high-temperature environment of 800 °C or higher, and accordingly, the problem of thermal stability of the material constituting SOFC has been raised. On the other hand, low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs) research is steadily progressing to improve the electrochemical performance at low temperatures by improving the oxygen reduction reaction of the cathode by applying a cathode interlayer of various materials. In this study, LT-SOFCs were manufactured and electrochemically evaluated using praseodymium oxide (PrO x ) as a cathode interlayer. Scandium Stabilized Zirconia (ScSZ) pellets were used as electrolyte support for LT-SOFC, and PrO x was deposited by various thicknesses as a cathode interlayer on ScSZ pellets by a sputtering process. Pt and Ni were deposited under the same process conditions for the cathode and anode, respectively. To analyze the thin-film characteristics of the PrO x cathode interlayer, SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) were analyzed. The electrochemical characteristics of LT-SOFCs were evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Hydrogen was supplied to the anode at the flow rate of 50 sccm, and the performance of LT-SOFC was evaluated at 500 °C by exposing the cathode to the atmosphere.

Keywords: solid oxide fuel cell; cathode interlayer; praseodymium oxide; reactive sputtering; electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/4/1403/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/4/1403/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:4:p:1403-:d:1586853

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().