GDC-Based Infiltrated Electrodes for Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cells (SOECs)

Abstract

In this work, porous complex and metal-free cathodes based on a (La_0.6Sr_0.4) (Cr_0.5Mn_0.5) O₃ (LSCM) screen-printed backbone infiltrated with Ce_0.9Gd_0.1O₂ (GDC) were fabricated for solid oxide electrolyzer cells. GDC infiltration has been optimized by structural and microstructural investigation and tested by electrochemical measurements in CO/CO₂ mixtures. Infiltrated electrodes with a non-aqueous GDC solution showed the best electro-catalytic activity towards CO₂ reduction, exhibiting a much lower polarization resistance, i.e., R_pol = 0.3 Ω·cm² at 900 °C. The electrochemical performance of LSCM/GDCE in terms of R_pol is comparable to the best-performing Ni-YSZ cathode in the same operating conditions (R_pol = 0.23 Ω·cm²).