Improving the Performance of SOFC Anodes by Decorating Perovskite with Ni Nanoparticles

In this work (La0.75Sr0.25)0.97Cr0.5Mn0.5O3 (LSCM) perovskite powders were pre-coated with 5 wt% nickel and mixed with different amounts of CGO for testing as anode materials under 3% wet H2. By using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) with X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), we demonstrated that Ni forms a solid solution in the perovkite phase under oxidizing atmosphere and exsolves in form of nanoparticles under reducing atmospheres. The presence of the catalyst nanoparticles led to a decrease in the anodic activation energy by half and thus the polarization resistance was dropped by 60% at 800¢ªC. The effect of CGO amount will be also discussed.