Characteristics of Sr0.92Y0.08TiO3-δ anode in humidified methane fuel for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Abstract

Sr0.92Y0.08TiO3-δ (SYT) was investigated as an alternative anode in humidified CH4 fuel for SOFCs at low temperatures (650°C-750°C) and compared with the conventional Ni/yttria-stabilized zirconia (Ni/YSZ) anode. The goal of the study was to directly use a hydrocarbon fuel in a SOFC without a reforming process. The cell performance of the SYT anode was relatively low compared with that of the Ni/YSZ anode because of the poor electrochemical catalytic activity of SYT. In the presence of CH4 fuel, however, the cell performance with the SYT anode decreased by 20%, in contrast to the 58% decrease in the case of the Ni/YSZ anode. The severe degradation of cell performance observed with the Ni/YSZ anode was caused by carbon deposition that resulted from methane thermal cracking. Carbon was much less detected in the SYT anode due to the catalytic oxidation. Otherwise, a significant amount of bulk carbon was detected in the Ni/YSZ anode.