High-Performance Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cathodes with Lanthanum-Nickelate-Based Composites

Lanthanum nickelate (LN, ) is a mixed ionic and electronic conductor with oxygen self-diffusion and surface exchange properties that predict that it will be a good cathode catalyst for solid oxide fuel cells. We show that LN performs poorly when used as a single-phase cathode in yttria-stabilized-zirconia-based air- dime cells at . Power densities up to are measured only when LN is used in a composite bilayer cathode. Parametric modeling shows that the kinetics of the LN-based cathodes is relatively poor, but their low ohmic resistance leads to their high power density.