A main cause of ageing in solid oxide fuel cells is strontium segregation: strontium in the oxygen electrode slowly moves to the surface and forms insulating layers that block the reaction.
We show that replacing a small part of the cobalt and iron in the widely used electrode material La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ with manganese keeps strontium in place. The modified electrodes deliver more power – up to 1.2 W cm⁻² at 0.7 V and 750 °C – and degrade more slowly under realistic fuel cell conditions. Surface and bulk analyses, including nano X-ray fluorescence, reveal how manganese stabilises the material.
Read the paper: N. Di Benedetto, A. M. Asensio, J. Sirvent, G. Kerherve, S. Benter, S. Sukumaran, K. Kreka, L. Martinho Serra, F. Baiutti, J. Villanova, S. J. Skinner, M. Torrell, A. Tarancón, “Controlling strontium segregation to unlock performance and durability in solid oxide cell oxygen electrodes”, Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2026). https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ta06378k
Figure from Di Benedetto et al., J. Mater. Chem. A (2026).
