Lucia software

To verify the microstructural parameters such as the support porosity and membrane layer thickness, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM FEG Tescan MIRA3) analysis was performed on both on the membrane surface and on polished cross-sections of embedded samples. Moreover, the support porosity was estimated by quantitative image analysis using Nikon LUCIA software (Tokio, Japan). SEM micrographs were converted into binary images by defining a gray-scale threshold, and the porosity was calculated as the ratio between the area of the masked regions and the total image area. The pore volume fraction estimated by this method corresponds to the total porosity (open + closed) of the layer.
The microstructure of the sintered samples was compared with an asymmetric LSCF reference membrane manufactured by tape casting [26 (link)].
The gas tightness of the sintered membranes was tested at room temperature by a helium (He) leakage test carried out by a Pfeiffer Vacuum Adixen ASM 340 leak tester.
High temperature (650–1000 °C) permeation tests were performed on asymmetric membranes in the experimental setup described in Section 2.1. The maximum leakage value of oxygen measured during high temperature tests was lower than 8%.

For the morphometric analyses, transverse tissue sections (5 μm) of formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded murine kidney tissues were stained with a standard hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) procedure. LUCIA software (Nikon) was used to capture the images.
Dihydroethidium (DHE, Cat No. S0063, Beyotime, China) was used to examine reactive oxygen species (ROS). Briefly, transverse tissue sections (5 μm) were subjected to DHE staining according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and the images were captured by a fluorescence microscope system (Carl Zeiss AG, Germany).