New Anode Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Development of a stable anode material that operates on fossil fuels is a fundamental technical target for the next generation of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The conventional Ni/YSZ composite anode show good performance with pure H2 as fuel. However, this anode has a low tolerance to fossil fuels mainly because of the presence of high sulfur content in these fuels. So, alternate anode materials are needed to use military logistic fuels such as JP-8. In this phase I effort, two series of new anode materials will be synthesized and their stability under sulfur containing fuels will be tested. In order to evaluate the electrochemical performance of these anode materials, a small size SOFC will be built and tested using high sulfur-content fuels. The Phase II program will focus on the issues of long-term stability, as well as mid-size SOFC design. Successful completion of the Phase II experimental work will result in the identification of preferred anode material. The SOFC built incorporating this new anode material will enable the use of wide variety of fuels from logistic fuels to synthesis gas.