Y-doped SrTiO3 based sulfur tolerant anode for solid oxide fuel cells

• Published in: Journal of power sources Vol. 164; no. 2; pp. 510 - 518
• Main Authors: KUROKAWA, Hideto, LIMING YANG, JACOBSON, Craig P, DE JONGHE, Lutgard C, VISCO, Steven J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier Sequoia 01-02-2007
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc; Exact sciences and technology; Fuel cells; Power density; Particle size; Solid oxide fuel cells; Porous electrode; Catalyst infiltration; Y-doped SrTiO3; Stabilized zirconia; Cerium oxide; Solid oxide fuel cell; Strontium Titanium Oxides; Performance; Yttrium; Current density; Catalyst; Sulfur tolerant anode
• ISSN: 0378-7753; 1873-2755
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2006.11.048

A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) anode with high sulfur tolerance was developed starting from a Y-doped SrTiO3 (SYTO)-yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) porous electrode backbone, and infiltrated with nano-sized catalytic ceria and Ru. The size of the infiltrated particles on the SYTO-YSZ pore walls was 30-200nm, and both infiltrated materials improved the performance of the SYTO-YSZ anode significantly. The infiltrated ceria covered most of the surface of the SYTO-YSZ pore walls, while Ru was dispersed as individual nano-particles. The performance and sulfur tolerance of a cathode supported cell with ceria- and Ru-infiltrated SYTO-YSZ anode was examined in humidified H2 mixed with H2S. The anode showed high sulfur tolerance in 10-40ppm H2S, and the cell exhibited a constant maximum power density 470mWcm-2 at 10ppm H2S, at 1073K. At an applied current density 0.5Acm-2, the addition of 10ppm H2S to the H2 fuel dropped the cell voltage slightly, from 0.79 to 0.78V, but completely recovered quickly after the H2S was stopped. The ceria- and Ru-infiltrated SYTO-YSZ anode showed much higher sulfur tolerance than conventional Ni-YSZ anodes.