Here, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy were used to determine the effect of precursor solution desiccation and nano-ceria pre-infiltration on Solid Oxide Fuel Cell cathodes with various infiltrate compositions. The calcium chloride desiccation of citric acid containing La0.6Sr0.4FeO3-x (LSF), La0.6Sr0.4Fe0.8Co0.2O3-x (LSFC), La0.6Sr0.4Fe0.5Co0.5O3-x (LSCF55), La0.6Sr0.4Fe0.2Co0.8O3-x (LSCF), and La0.6Sr0.4CoO3-x (LSC) infiltrate precursor solutions reduced average infiltrate particle sizes from the similar to 53 nm obtained with standard processing to similar to 42 nm. Similarly, infiltration of the aforementioned La0.6Sr0.4FeyCo1-yO3-x precursor solutions into porous cathodes containing pre-infiltrated gadolinium doped ceria (GDC) particles reduced average La0.6Sr0.4FeyCo1-yO3-x infiltrate particle sizes from the similar to 53 nm obtained with standard processing (i.e. in the absence of nano-GDC pre-infiltration) to similar to 27 nm with nano-GDC pre-infiltration. These desiccation and nano-GDC pre-infiltration induced infiltrate particle size reductions resulted in improved cathode performance. For example, in comparison with the 650 degrees C operating temperatures required for standard LSC-GDC cathodes to achieve a polarization resistance of 0.1 Omega cm(2), identical cathodes subjected to desiccation or nano-GDC pre-infiltration achieved 0.1 Omega cm(2) at 630 degrees C and 570 degrees C, respectively. These promising results suggest that precursor solution desiccation or nano-GDC pre-infiltration may be useful for reducing the sizes of a variety of SOFC infiltrate materials. (C) The Author(s) 2016. Published by ECS. All rights reserved.