In practical terms, the conductivity of the cell and if a liquid electrolyte is present, the conductivity of the eelctrolyte determine steh rate of ion transfer between the anode and cahtode. The higher the conductivity the faster the the charge transfer whether charging or discharging. However the conductivity also limits how fast the ions can ravel (amps can flow). At some point (C discharge rate), the ions can not keep up with the demand and the capacity of the cell drops. the cell also starts to heat up and parsitic chemical raections set in. The cahtode is only pat of this phenomena. The rsistance of the cathode also plays apart where at some point overvoltage potentials set in at the surface and parasitic raections can set.. The resistance of the cathode plus the resistance of the electrolyte plus the resistance of the anode equal in general to the overall cell resistance and its rate ability to charge or discharge. In the LIB the liquid electrolyte seems to be the main resistance and its conductivity is maximized at present with 10% LiPF6 in organic electrolytes at about 12 mS/cm. The cathode has added conductive carbon as does the anode to increase their conductivities.
In a perfect world, oxides fused together to make compounds through eutectic mixing must not have any co-relation when it comes to a dense (electrolyte) and porous electrode. However, for SOFCs, (even IT) the temperature is still very high, 600-800C, and that causes some electrode interfacial resistances with the electrolyte. Of course there are methods by which you can separate those effects.
Polarization resistance arising from the oxygen ionic transfer across the cathode/electrolyte interface is closely related to oxygen ionic conductivity of the cathode and electrolyte materials. The closer the conductivities of the cathode and electrolyte, the smaller the interface polarization resistance. So this can effect ORR of SOFC Cathode.
for details read out following
Article Intermediate-Temperature Electrochemical Performance of a Po...