Fabrication and performance of impregnated Ni anodes of solid oxide fuel cells

Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ) and Gd-doped CeO2 (GDC) oxide impregnated Ni was investigated and developed as anodes of solid oxide fuel cells. Performance of the Ni anodes for the H-2 oxidation reaction was substantially enhanced after the impregnation of submicrometer (100-300 nm) YSZ and GDC oxide particles. After impregnation of 1.7 mg/cm(2) GDC (similar to 8.5 vol% GDC), the electrode polarization resistance dropped to 0.71 Omega (.) cm(2) at 800 degrees C, close to 0.24 Omega (.) cm(2) reported on good Ni (50 vol%)/YSZ (50 vol%) cermet anodes at the same temperature. The results demonstrated that ion or wet impregnation is an effective process to introduce ionic conducting and catalytic active nano-sized YSZ and GDC phases into stable and porous Ni electronic network structure without the high temperature sintering process.