Preparation and Properties of PrBa0.5Sr0.5Co1.5Fe0.5O5+δas Novel Oxygen Electrode for Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells

A novel double perovskite oxide PrBa0.5Sr0.5Co1.5Fe0.5O5+δ (PBSCF) was prepared by a sol–gel method and then characterized by X-ray diffraction. The pure PBSCF as oxygen electrode for solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs). Electrochemical impedance spectra and voltage-current curves of the electrolysis cell with the configuration of PBSCF/GDC/YSZ/Ni-YSZ were measured as a function of operating temperature and steam concentration to characterize the electrolysis cell performances. The current density increased from 1.445 A/cm2 at 700℃to 1.735 A/cm2 at 800℃with 90vol% absolute humidity (AH) under an applied electrolysis voltage of 2V. The polarization resistance was 0.124Ω/cm2 at 800℃. The hydrogen generation rate of the cell can be up to 978 mL/ (cm2·h) at 800℃ calculated from the Faraday's law. Further, the electrolysis cell showed very stable performance during a 120 h long term electrolysis testing, indicating that PBSCF can be a very promising candidate material for the oxygen electrode of SOECs.