High-Performance Cu-Doped (Mn, Co)3O4 Spinel Based Composite Cathods for Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Abstract

Mn1.3Co1.3Cu0.4O4 (MCCO) spinel has been developed as a new oxygen catalyst for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) applications. The addition of Cu into the (Mn,Co)3O4 spinel effectively promoted oxidation states of Mn ions, which were mostly positioned at octahedral sites. Hence, this effect promotes small polaron hopping with a narrow bandgap resulting in high electrical conductivity. SOFCs using MCCO-Sc0.1Zr0.89Ce0.01O1.95 composite cathode showed remarkably high power densities of 1.92 and 1.38 W cm-2 at 800 oC and 700 oC, respectively. As far as we know, this result is the best performance of all SOFCs using spinel-based cathodes to date.