Novel perovskite structured Nd_0.5Ba_0.5Co_1/3Ni_1/3Mn_1/3O_3−δ as highly efficient catalyst for oxygen electrode in solid oxide electrochemical cells

Developing catalytic materials with highly efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essential for lower-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and electrolysis cell (SOEC) technologies. In this work, a novel triple perovskite material, Nd_0.5Ba_0.5Co_1/3Ni_1/3Mn_1/3O_3−δ, has been developed and employed as a catalyst for both ORR and OER in SOFC and SOEC operations at relatively lower temperatures, showing a low polarization resistance of 0.327 Ω cm², high-power output of SOFC up to 773 mW cm^–2 at 650 °C, and a high current density of 1.57 A cm^–2 from SOEC operation at 1.5 V at 600 °C. The relaxation time distribution reveals that Nd_0.5Ba_0.5Co_1/3Ni_1/3Mn_1/3O_3−δ could maintain a slow polarization process at the relatively low operating temperature, offering a significant antipolarization advantage over other perovskite electrode materials. The Nd_0.5Ba_0.5Co_1/3Ni_1/3Mn_1/3O_3−δ electrode provides a low energy barrier of about 0.36 eV in oxygen ion mobility, which is beneficent for oxygen reduction/evolution reaction processes.