Investigation of Ce-based buffer layers on electrochemical performance of YSZ-based symmetric solid oxide fuel cells

It is well known that the introduction of buffer layers can enhance the electrical performance of SSOFCs. Hence, we studied varying ratios of Gd-doped CeO2 as a buffer layer and applied it to YSZ-based SSOFCs. The results demonstrate that the performance is enhanced by adding a buffer layer to the single cell, which is superior compared to that without the buffer layer. The highest performance was obtained when Ce0.8Gd0.2O2-δ (GDC20) was used as the buffer layer. The results suggest the use of GDC series buffer layers as an attractive strategy to optimize the performance loss due to electrolyte-electrode interactions.