Performance improvement of oxide catalyst-doped anode-supported SOFCs for methane fuel

Abstract

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with conventional Ni cermet anode suffer carbon deposition when directly used with hydrocarbon fuels. In this work, oxide catalysts containing Li2TiO3, which can prevent carbon deposition, were developed, and the performance of catalyst-doped anode-supported SOFCs used with CH4 fuel was evaluated. The Li 2 TiO3 catalyst showed excellent resistance to carbon deposition on Li2TiO3 -catalyst-doped Ni-yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) anodes. The power density of the catalyst-doped Ni-YSZ anode-supported unit cells was higher than 0.4 W/ cm2 at 800°C, and in particular, their long-term stability improved considerably when used with CH4 fuel. © 2010 The Electrochemical Society.