Hydrogen sulfide-resilient anodes for molten carbonate fuel cells

Nickel aluminum (Ni–Al) alloy anodes have become the preferred choice in anode material and have received widespread attention in molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) research due to their high durability and effectiveness in resisting creep of stack loadings. They are, however, susceptible to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) poisoning, which results in pore compression and rapid reduction of active sites for the electro-catalytic reaction. In this work, iron is introduced into a conventional Ni–Al anode to improve the creep resistance and tolerance to H2S. Anodes containing 30 wt.% Fe have a low creep strain of ca. 3%, but their creep resistance is much better than that of standard anodes. Single cells operated stably over 1000 h with a low voltage loss of ca. 5 mV. When exposed to H2S, the modified anode exhibited excellent recovery from the poisoning effect.

► Systematical study of Fe introduction into conventional Ni–Al anode. ► Improvement of creep resistance and tolerance to H2S. ► High long term stability of cell with low voltage loss of ca. 5 mV. ► Significant recovery of the modified anodes from H2S poisoning effect.