Ridge-Valley Nanostructured Samaria-Doped Ceria Interlayer for Thermally Stable Cathode Interface in Low-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

Agglomeration of the metal electrode decreases the performance of low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFC) during operation at elevated temperatures. Here, we report a Pt electrode/ridge-valley nanostructured samaria-doped ceria (SDC) layer interface with extended lifetime. LT-SOFCs with RF-sputtered SDC interlayers with thicknesses in the range 65–260 nm show a >20 times lower degradation of performance as compared to cells without interlayer when operated at 450 °C (1.8% h−1 vs. 45% h−1). Micromorphological analysis reveals that the coarsening of the Pt electrode is significantly suppressed by the presence of the nanostructured SDC interlayer, possibly due to a stronger bonding between this layer and the Pt grains.