High-Performance (Ce, Zr)O₂-Free Solid Oxide Fuel Cell with an Active-Sintered Cathode Interface and a Low-Temperature Densified Micron-Scale Barrier Layer

Incorporating a dense GDC (Gd 0.1 Ce 0.9 O 1.95 ) barrier layer is an effective strategy to avoid harmful reactions between the LSCF (La 0.6 Sr 0.4 Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 O 3−δ ) cathode and the YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia) electrolyte. In this study, a micron-scale and dense GDC barrier layer is obtained by the combination of spin coating, low-temperature sintering, and hydrothermal-assisted densification. The cell exhibits decent output performance, with a peak power density of 1.07 W/cm 2 at 780 °C. The ohmic and polarization resistances are significantly decreased by ∼44 and ∼36% than the cell with the screen-printed GDC barrier layer, respectively. Due to the low sintering temperature of the GDC barrier layer at 1200 °C, there is nearly no generation of (Ce, Zr)O 2 at the interface of GDC/YSZ. The thin and dense GDC barrier layer effectively shortens the oxygen-ion conduction pathway, as well as hinders Sr migration from the cathode, highlighting its remarkable potential for industrial applications.