Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Materials and Systems Research, Inc. (MSRI) will team to achieve rational design of robust and durable cathode materials/structures with high tolerance to several types of contaminants commonly encountered under realistic solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) operating conditions. The team will use model cells with carefully designed electrodes to probe and map contaminants on different sites of electrode surfaces in order to correlate the electrochemical performance with the structure and composition evolution of the cathodes over time. A range of characterization tools will be used to study the chemical and structural changes of electrodes during fuel cell operation. Both experimental and modeling techniques will be used to help formulate an effective strategy to mitigate the stability issues and design new catalyst materials that may dramatically enhance the stability of the cathodes. The performance and stability of catalyst-modified cathodes will be validated in cells of different sizes under realistic operating conditions.