The effect of copper and cerium infiltration on LSM Cathode microstructure in solid oxide fuel cells

Solid oxide fuel cells are a technology that can convert chemical energy directly into electrical energy. in the present study, single-phase lanthanium strontium manganate (lsm) nanoparticles with the nominal chemical formula la0.8sr0.2mno3 were successfully synthesized by the improved pechini method. the infiltration of heterogeneous copper and cerium electrocatalysts on the cathode was investigated. x-ray diffraction (xrd) was used to determine the phase composition. the microstructure and surface morphology of the synthesized powder was characterized using a scanning electron microscope (sem). the coated composition was examined using energy dispersive spectroscopy (eds) and elemental mapping images. the microstructure of the electrocatalysts seeded on the cathode was studied by fesem. the infiltration of 0.5 m copper + 0.5 m cerium nanoparticles (dimensions from 23 to 52 nm) with a broad distribution on the lsm cathode surface was obtained. results showed that using single-component solutions of copper and cerium nanoparticles with dimensions of 39-61 nm and 20-42 nm, respectively, were generated on the cathode surface. the formation of agglomerated particles was observed as the cerium solution concentration increased. secondary copper growth was observed as the copper solution concentration increased.