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Enhanced performance and endurance of nano-porous platinum solid oxide fuel cell electrodes by oxygen partial pressure cycling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2013

Cynthia N. Ginestra  and
Paul C. McIntyre
Cynthia N. Ginestra
Affiliation:
Stanford University, Stanford, California
Paul C. McIntyre*
Affiliation:
Stanford University, Stanford, California
*
Address all correspondence to Paul C. McIntyre atpcm1@stanford.edu
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Abstract

We demonstrate that alternating the oxygen partial pressure gradient across a yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte membrane prior to solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) testing with nanoporous Pt electrodes greatly increases (e.g. by >70-fold at 350 °C) peak power density compared with devices without pretreatment. Transiently altering the oxygen activity at the cathode–YSZ interface appears to change the wetting characteristics of the nanoporous Pt, significantly affecting the stability and low-temperature performance of the SOFCs. Image analysis and impedance spectroscopy results suggest that an increase in triple-phase boundary area fraction at the cathode–YSZ interface contributes to the observed effect.

Type
Research Letters
Information
MRS Communications , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , September 2013 , pp. 123 - 128
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

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