Flash Light Sintered Lanthanum Strontium Cobalt Ferrite(LSCF) Electrode for High Performance IT-SOFCs

The high temperature(900oC~) thermal sintering process is necessary to fabricate the Solid oxide fuel cells(SOFCs). However, the chemical reaction has occurred between solid oxide material components, electrode and electrolyte. In the case of lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ, LSCF) electrode, the SrZrO3(SZO) secondary phase is produced at the electrolyte interface even when using the gadolinium doped ceria(GDC) buffer layer for blocking the strontium and zirconium diffusion. The SZO layer hinders the oxygen ion transfer and deteriorates fuel cell performance. By using a novel flash light sintering(FLS) method, we have successfully solved the problem of secondary phase formation in the conventional high temperature thermal sintering process. The microstructure and thickness of the LSCF electrode are analyzed using a field emission scanning electron microscope(FE-SEM). The strontium diffusion and secondary phase are confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometer method of SEM, TEM (SEM-, TEM-EDS). The NiO-YSZ anode supported LSCF cathode cells are adopted for electro chemical analysis which is measured at 750oC. The maximum power density of the thermal sintered LSCF cathode at 1050oC is 699.6mW/cm2, while that of the flash light sintered LSCF cathode is 711.6mW/cm2. This result proves that the electrode was successfully sintered without a secondary phase using flash light sintering.