Surface Oxygen Exchange Properties of Sr Doped La2NiO4+δ as SOFC Cathode: Thin-Film Electrical Conductivity Relaxation Investigation

Abstract

La2-xSrxNiO4+δ dense films are prepared by a novel spray-modified pressing method. The surface reaction kinetics is investigated via electrical conductivity relaxation (ECR). The layer thickness, 5~10 μm, is much less than the characteristic length of lanthanum nickelates, resulting in surface-controlled situation and allowing more accurate fitting than the traditional pellets ECR on the surface exchange coefficient (k). k for LNO is 1.6×10-5 cm/s in 0.2 atm at 700oC. Sr doping impairs the exchange kinetics, and k of Sr40 is about one order of magnitude smaller than undoped one. Interstitial oxygen and Ni oxidation state are suggested the predominant roles in determining surface kinetics. Given the properties of the thin-film herein developed by spray-modified pressing is closer to those in practical porous electrode compared to pulsed laser deposited film in terms of preferential orientation and strain, it warrants the use of such a method in a variety of pertinent investigations.