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The influence of PEEK as a pore former on the microstructure of brush-painted LSCF cathodes

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Abstract

At lower operation temperature of intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFC), polarization resistance was recognized as a limiting step because polarization at cathode is dependent on the rate of oxygen reduction reaction. The enhancement of cathode microstructure is one of the effective ways to improve the reaction rate. Pore former addition method is proven to be able to tailor the microstructure of cathode. The addition of polyether ether ketone (PEEK) as pore former was evaluated and compared with common pore formers (corn starch and graphite) for the microstructure cathode layer. Brush painting technique was used to deposit cathode layer on anode/electrolyte dual layer support hollow fiber. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis had proven that the resulting layer was free from impurities after the sintering treatment. Corn starch was able to induced cathode layer with coarse and large interconnected pores for efficient gas diffusion, as was proven by the SEM analysis. Additionally, SEM analysis also showed the formation of fine micropores throughout the layer when graphite was used as the pore former that can provide the increase in triple phase boundary region (TPB) in the layer. PEEK was able to generate both high porosity for oxygen diffusion to the reactive sites and increased number of TPB by the formation of fine microstructure pores in the cathode layer.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from Ministry of Education Malaysia under Exploratory Research Grant Scheme (Project Number: R.J130000.7842.4L104) and Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (Project Number: R.J130000.7809.4F282), and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia under Research University Grant Tier 1 (Project number: Q.J130000.2509.05H53). The authors also would like to thank Research Management Centre, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, for the technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

    Muhazri Abd Mutalib, Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman, Madzlan Aziz, Mukhlis A. Rahman, Juhana Jaafar, A. F. Ismail & Mohamad Azuwa Mohamed

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  1. Muhazri Abd Mutalib
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  2. Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman
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Correspondence to Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman.

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Abd Mutalib, M., Othman, M.H.D., Aziz, M. et al. The influence of PEEK as a pore former on the microstructure of brush-painted LSCF cathodes. J Solid State Electrochem 20, 2895–2905 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-016-3300-x

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