Tailoring kinetics of Cr-chemisorption over La_0.6Sr_0.4Fe_0.8Co_0.2O₃ cathode material through its porosity variation

The La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.2Fe_0.8O₃ (LSCF) ceramics with the porosity of 20% (LSCF-20) and 50% (LSCF-50) were fabricated through temperature variation. Kinetics of the Cr-adsorption has been studied at 700 °C over 345 h under air. Different dominant mechanisms of Cr chemisorption over the ceramics with different porosities were identified. The Cr–substitution into the LSCF perovskite grains will dominate in the denser LSCF-20 ceramics, whereas the growth of SrCrO₄ crystals over the LSCF perovskite phase will occur preferably in the more porous LSCF-50 ceramics. The Cr penetrates into a more porous LSCF-50 ceramics up to 12–17 μm and the total Cr amount adsorbed after 345 h over the LSCF-50 ceramics is larger by about 10 times than over the denser LSCF-20 ceramics. The revealed remarkable differences could be associated with the increase in the surface area and with a higher volume of macro- and mesoporosity.