Self-rising synthesis of Ni–SDC cermets as anodes for solid oxide fuel cells

Ni–SDC cermets have been obtained using a self-rising approach by two different ways, one-step direct synthesis (OS) and ball milling the separately prepared NiO and SDC powders (BM). The results showed that self-rising approach was an efficient way for the synthesis of porous materials composed of evenly distributed uniform size nanocrystals. The as-synthesized powders have been applied as anodes for solid oxide fuel cells, whose electrochemical properties have been systematically studied. Cells with anodes from the BM method showed better performance compared with those of the OS method, achieving a maximum power density of 400 mW cm−2 at 600 °C.