Most efforts regarding strain effect at the interfaces between electrolytes and electrodes are mainly focused on enhancing the ionic conductivity in electrolytes. However, fundamental insights into the strain effect on gas transport properties in electrodes of fuel cells are still lacking. In this report, quantitative analysis is performed to evaluate the correlation between interfacial strain and the important fuel cells parameters, including limiting current density and concentration polarization. We demonstrate that the strain effect plays an important role in the performance of solid oxide fuel cells with nanostructured electrodes. Our studies provide a powerful platform for reducing concentration polarization by engineering quantitatively the interfacial strain, and facilitating the development of high-efficiency nanostructured fuel cells. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.