Highly sulfur tolerant Cu-ceria anodes for SOFCs

The results of a study of the sulfur tolerance of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with composite anodes containing Cu, CeO2, and YSZ are presented. When operating a SOFC with Cu/CeO2/YSZ anodes on H-2 fuel containing sulfur impurities in the form of H2S at 1073 K it was found that H2S levels up to 450 ppm had no effect on anode performance. At higher H2S concentrations, anode deactivation was observed and can be attributed to the reaction of the CeO2 with H2S to form Ce2O2S. (c) 2005 The Electrochemical Society.