Performance of mix-impregnated CeO2-Ni/YSZ Anodes for Direct Oxidation of Methane in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

CeO2-Ni/YSZ anodes for methane direct oxidation were prepared by the vacuum mix-impregnation method. By this method, NiO and CeO2 are obtained from nitrate decomposition and high temperature sintering is avoided, which is different from the preparation of conventional Ni-yttria-stabilised zirconia(YSZ) anodes impregnating CeO2 Into the anode can improve the cell performance, especially, when CH4 is Used as fuel The investigation indicated that CeO2-Ni/YSZ anodes calcined at higher temperature exhibited better stability than those calcined at lower temperature. Under the testing temperature of 1,073 K, the anode calcined at 1,073 K exhibited the best performance The maximum power density of a cell with a 10 wt-%CeO2-25 wt.-%Ni anode calcined at 1,073 K reached 480 mW cm(-2) after running on CH4 for 5 h At the same time, high discharge current favoured cell operation on CH4 when Using these anodes No obvious carbon was found on the CeO2-Ni anode after testing in CH4 as revealed from SEM and corresponding linear EDS analysis. In addition, cell performance decreased at the beginning of discharge testing which was attributed to the anode microstructure change Observed with SEM