Preparation and Performance Study of In-Situ Self-Assembled Biphasic SmMn₂O₅-NiMn₂O₄ Composite Cathode

Authors

• Neng-Chu Xia, Key Laboratory of Advanced Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers Technology of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315201, P.R. China
• Yu Zhou, Key Laboratory of Advanced Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers Technology of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315201, P.R. China
• Qin Wang, School of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315211, P.R. China
• Jia-You Zhang, Key Laboratory of Advanced Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers Technology of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315201, P.R. China
• Chun Yu, Key Laboratory of Advanced Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers Technology of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315201, P.R. China
• Yang Zhang, Key Laboratory of Advanced Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers Technology of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315201, P.R. China
• Wan-Bing Guan, Key Laboratory of Advanced Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers Technology of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315201, P.R. China
• Jian-Xin Wang, Key Laboratory of Advanced Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers Technology of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315201, P.R. ChinaFollow

Corresponding Author

Jian-Xin Wang (jxwang@nimte.ac.cn)

Abstract

Mullite-structured oxides exhibit excellent oxygen reduction reaction activity, possess a low thermal expansion coefficient due to their unique crystal structure, and can eliminate the need for a barrier layer and simplify the preparation process as they contain no alkaline earth elements. Thus, they hold great promise as novel cathode materials for solid oxide fuel cells. In this work, a mullite-spinel-structured SmMn₂O₅-NiMn₂O₄ (SMO-NMO) composite cathode was one-step synthesized via a solid-liquid composite route, and its in-situ self-assembly enabled good compatibility with the electrolyte without any barrier layer. Characterization results showed that the SMO:NMO = 5:5 (SN55) composite cathode overcame the bottlenecks of single-phase materials-namely, the low conductivity of pure SMO (only 0.035 S·cm^–1 at 800 °C) and the insufficient oxygen reduction reaction activity of pure NMO-through a synergistic effect between the two phases. At 800 °C, the single cell delivered a peak power density of 1069.82 mW·cm^–2, which was 3.24-fold and 1.20-fold higher than that of pure SMO (329.92 mW·cm^–2) and NMO (890.20 mW·cm^–2), respectively. Under galvanostatic operation at 750 °C (current density corresponding to 540 mA·cm^–2), the SN55-based cell runs for ~150 h with only 1.6% voltage loss, corresponding to a degradation rate of 5.62%/kh, and no defects appeared at the cathode-electrolyte interface. This study provided a new route for designing barrier-layer-free cathodes for solid oxide fuel cells.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Solid oxide fuel cell, Cathode, Mullite, Barrier-free, In-situ composite

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.61558/2993-074X.3615

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Publication Date

2026-07-28

Online Available Date

2026-05-14

Revised Date

2026-04-26

Received Date

2026-03-31

Recommended Citation

Neng-Chu Xia, Yu Zhou, Qin Wang, Jia-You Zhang, Chun Yu, Yang Zhang, Wan-Bing Guan, Jian-Xin Wang. Preparation and Performance Study of In-Situ Self-Assembled Biphasic SmMn₂O₅-NiMn₂O₄ Composite Cathode[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2026, 32(7): 2603211.
DOI: 10.61558/2993-074X.3615
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol32/iss7/2