The catalytic effect of impregnated (La, Sr)(Ti, Mn)O3±δ with CeO2 and Pd as potential anode materials in high temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Abstract In this study, the catalytic effects and electrochemical properties of CeO 2 and Pd catalysts on La 0.4 Sr 0.6 Ti 0.8 Mn 0.2 O 3±δ (LSTM) were analyzed. The introduction of CeO 2 resulted in an advanced improvement of the polarization resistance values and hence in the performance. The optimized composition of CeO 2 with LSTM was observed with the addition of 20% of CeO 2 to LSTM-8mol % Y 2 O 3 stabilized ZrO 2 (8YSZ). The power densities of this composite anode system measured at 800 and 850 °C were 196 and 302 mW cm −2 . When 1 wt% of Pd and 20 wt% CeO 2 were used as catalysts, the power density of the sample was 251 mW cm −2 at 800 °C caused by the advanced catalytic activity towards H 2 oxidation. Significantly, the more CeO 2 was impregnated, the smaller the observed ohmic resistance (Rs) was, because the relatively high electrical conductivity from the CeO 2 compensated the lower conductivity property of the LSTM-8YSZ composite. The effects of catalysts such as CeO 2 and Pd were also investigated with respect to the different application order on the LSTM-8YSZ scaffold. The optimal sequence of CeO 2 and Pd was 20 wt% CeO 2 formed on the LSTM-8YSZ scaffold followed by 1 wt% of Pd.