Efficient Pr2NiO4@Pr6O11 (PPNO) composite cathode synthesized via reactive magnetron sputtering (RMS) for MS-SOFC applications

The development of high-efficiency cathode materials is critical for advancing the large-scale commercialization of metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells (MS-SOFCs). In this study, Pr-Ni-O oxides were deposited using RMS and subsequently annealed at 1000 °C for 30 min to induce the in-situ formation of a Pr₂NiO₄@Pr₆O₁₁ (PPNO) composite cathode. The incorporation of Pr₆O₁₁ mitigates the decomposition of Pr₂NiO₄ (PNO), thereby enhancing its long-term stability. Compared to the parent material PNO, the PPNO composite demonstrated superior electrocatalytic performance. The polarization resistance (Rₚ) of the PPNO cathode was significantly reduced to 0.07 Ω·cm2, much lower than the 0.84 Ω·cm2 observed for PNO at 750 °C. Furthermore, a single cell with the configuration ITM/GDC10/NiO-YSZ/8YSZ/GDC10/PPNO (MS/PPNO) exhibited a remarkable maximum power density (Pmax) of 1010 mW·cm2 at 750 °C, compared to 326 mW·cm2 for the corresponding ITM/GDC10/NiO-YSZ/8YSZ/GDC10/(MS/PNO) configuration. These findings provide valuable insights into designing improved cathode layers for MS-SOFC applications.