Cobalt-free nanofiber cathodes for proton conducting solid oxide fuel cells

Nanofiber-structured La2NiO4+delta (LNO) and LaNi0.6Fe0.4O3-delta (LNF) cathodes, which were fabricated by an electrospinning technique, were used for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (H-SOFCs) for the first time, aiming to develop high-performance cobalt-free cathodes for H-SOFCs. High porosity and large specific surface area of LNO, LNF nanofiber-structured cathodes were beneficial for the cathode reactions, resulting in an encouraging peak power density of 508 mWcm(-2) and 551 mWcm(-2) for LNO and LNF cathode cell at 700 degrees C, respectively. The nanofiber-structured cathodes showed a higher fuel cell performance and lower polarization resistance compared with that of the cell using corresponding powder cathode, suggesting the construction of nanofiber-structured cathode provided an alternative and promising route to prepare high performance cathodes for H-SOFCs.