Boosting the performance of conventional air electrodes for solid oxide cells by in-situ loading of nano praseodymium oxide

• Pr 6 O 11 nanocatalyst were in-situ loaded by a urea-based infiltration method. • The R p of LSM was reduced to < 1/10 of its original value. • The R p of LSCF and LSC were reduced to ½-1/4 of their original values. • The MPD of cells with LSM, LSCF and LSC were improved by 592%, 122% and 90% (600 °C). • The SOEC performance were enhanced by > 5 times for LSM, 2 times for LSCF and LSC. State‐of‐the‐art air electrodes such as (La,Sr)MnO 3 (LSM) and La 0.6 Sr 0.4 Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 O 3+δ (LSCF) for solid oxide cells (SOCs), suffer from sluggish oxygen exchange kinetics and high activation energy at reduced temperatures, thus dramatically decreasing their performance. Herein, we demonstrate a simple strategy to boost the activities of these conventional air electrodes. Praseodymium oxide nano-catalysts were in-situ homogeneously incorporated into LSM, LSCF, and La 0.6 Sr 0.4 CoO 3 (LSC) air electrodes during the SOC startup via a facile one-step urea-based infiltration method. The polarization resistance of LSM can be reduced to<1/10 of its original value, while LSCF and LSC can be reduced to about 1/2 – 1/4 of their original resistances at 600–800 °C. This approach dramatically enhances the cell performances, typically increases the SOFC power outputs and electrolysis current densities (at 600 °C) by>5 times for LSM, more than two times for LSCF, and approximately two times for LSC. Furthermore, the infiltrated LSC electrode show good durability of 132 h at 700 °C under electrolysis mode. This work demonstrates a facile and cost-effective way to boost the performance of conventional air electrodes for SOC and is also applicable to the studies involving similar oxygen exchange reactions for various energy conversion and storage systems.