Electrode properties of Sr-doped LaMnO3 on yttria-stabilized zirconia. I. Three-phase boundary area

The interface microstructure of the state-of-the-art cathode material for solid oxide fuel cells, SrxLa1–xMnO3 (SLM), was investigated with respect to its electrochemical performance. The interface microstructure was characterized by grain size and coverage of SLM on the electrolyte surface. Variation of the grain size was obtained by using three different sintering temperatures, whereas variation of the coverage was obtained by using two powders with a different morphology. This resulted in a set of six cathode/electrolyte samples with different combinations of grain size and SLM coverage at the interface. The cathode overpotential, as a measure for the electrochemical performance, could not be related to the length of the three-phase boundary. Based on the constriction resistance occurring in the electrolyte a model was developed which provides an estimate for the width of the active three-phase boundary zone.This zone is most likely to extend outside the cathode particle across the zirconia surface. The width calculated in this way was found to vary in the range of 0.03 to 0.07 µm for the different electrode microstructures. It is argued that the actual values may be smaller by one or two orders of magnitude.