Materials design for perovskite SOFC cathodes

This article focuses on perovskite materials for application as cathode material in solid oxide fuel cells. In order to develop new promising materials it is helpful to classify already known perovskite materials according to their properties and to identify certain tendencies. Thereby, composition-dependent structural data and materials properties are considered. Structural data under consideration are the Goldschmidt tolerance factor, which describes the stability of perovskites with respect to other structures, and the critical radius and lattice free volume, which are used as geometrical measures of ionic conductivity. These calculations are based on the ionic radii of the constituent ions and their applicability is discussed. A potential map of perovskites as a tool to classify simple ABO(3) perovskite materials according to their electrical conduction behavior is critically reviewed as a structured approach to the search for new cathode materials based on more complex perovskites with A and/or B-site substitutions. This article also covers the approaches used to influence electronic and the ionic conductivity. The advantage of mixed ionic electronic conductors in terms of the oxygen exchange reaction is addressed and their important properties, namely the oxygen-exchange coefficient and the oxygen diffusion coefficient, and their effect on the oxygen reduction reaction are presented.