Comparison of combustion and solid-state reaction methods for the fabrication of SOFC LSM cathodes

This study investigates the crystal phase and microstructure of LSM (La_1-xSr_xMnO₃) cathode material synthesized by solid state reaction method and combustion synthesis. It measures and compares their electrical properties. LSM is a lanthanum ferrite-based cathode material. It has an ABO₃ perovskite structure; the A in this structure was substituted by Sr in this research to synthesize the LSM cathode powder. An electrolyte pellet was prepared using 8mol% YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia) powder. The electrode was vapor deposited by screen printing. The crystal structure and morphology were measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) for the sintered samples collected. The complex impedance was measured in the temperature range 600-900°C in air (Computer Impedance Grain-Phase Analyzer). The electrical conductivity and polarization resistance of LSM were characterized systematically.