Assessment of the performance of Ni-yttria-stabilized zirconia anodes in anode-supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells operating on H2–CO syngas fuels

Anode-supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) with Ni-yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) anode have been fabricated and studied using H2–CO syngas fuels. Syngas fuels with different compositions of H2–CO are supplied and the cell performance is measured at 750 °C. A high CO content has caused carbon deposition and crack formation in the Ni-YSZ anode after long-term operation, even though it is diluted with H2O and N2. However, it was found that a Cu–CeO2 coating on Ni-YSZ can greatly improve the anode stability in syngas by facilitating the water gas shift reaction. The optimized single cell has run in sygas with a composition of 65%H2–32%CO–3%H2O for 1050 h without obvious degradation of its performance.