Co₃O₄ nanocubes with exposed (001) planes were prepared and employed for use as first-generation Sr-doped LaMnO₃ (LSM) cathodes in solid oxide fuel cells to improve the cell performance. Theoretical simulations suggest that the Co₃O₄ (001) plane has the smallest oxygen adsorption and oxygen dissociation energies compared with other planes, thus favouring cathode reactions in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Experimental studies consistently demonstrate that a cell using an LSM cathode made with Co₃O₄ nanocubes with selective (001) surfaces exhibits a peak power density of 500 mW cm⁻² at 600 °C, while the power output for a cell using unselective (commercial) Co₃O₄ nanoparticles is only 179 mW cm⁻² at the same temperature. The electrochemical study indicates that the use of Co₃O₄ nanoparticles with exposed (001) surfaces obviously accelerates the cathode reactions and thus decreases the polarisation resistance, which is the key to improving fuel cell performance. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using the crystal planes of metal oxides to improve the fuel cell performance and provides a new way to design SOFC cathodes.

中文翻译：

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用具有选择性暴露的晶面的Co 3 O 4纳米立方体修饰第一代固体氧化物燃料电池阴极

制备具有暴露的（001）面的Co ₃ O ₄纳米立方体，并将其用作固体氧化物燃料电池中的第一代掺Sr的LaMnO ₃（LSM）阴极，以改善电池性能。理论模拟表明，与其他平面相比，Co ₃ O ₄（001）平面具有最小的氧吸附和氧离解能，因此有利于固体氧化物燃料电池（SOFC）的阴极反应。实验研究一致证明，使用由具有选择性（001）表面的Co ₃ O ₄纳米立方体制成的LSM阴极的电池表现出500 mW cm ^-2的峰值功率密度在600°C下，使用非选择性（商业）Co ₃ O ₄纳米颗粒的电池在相同温度下的输出功率仅为179 mW cm ^-2。电化学研究表明，具有暴露的（001）表面的Co ₃ O ₄纳米颗粒的使用明显加速了阴极反应，从而降低了极化电阻，这是改善燃料电池性能的关键。这项研究证明了使用金属氧化物的晶面改善燃料电池性能的可行性，并提供了一种设计SOFC阴极的新方法。