Improved electrochemical properties of Ni/YSZ anodes infiltrated by proton conductor SZY in solid oxide fuel cells with dry methane fuel: Dependence on amount of SZY

Improved electrochemical properties of Ni/YSZ anodes for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) were obtained when a proton conducting material, SrZr0.95Y0.05O3-x (SZY), was infiltrated to the anode. The synthesis of SZY in Ni/YSZ anodes involved first adding an STY precursor solution by the infiltration method and then calcinating at 1300 degrees C to induce the chemical decomposition reaction of the SZY precursor. When the amount of infiltrated SZY was increased, the performance of SOFCs with Ni/YSZ-SZY increased, while the degradation of the anode decreased in dry methane fuel. Based on the performance, anode potential, and degradation ratio of the SOFCs, the optimal amount of infiltrated SZY was about 1/14 (SZY/NiO by wt). The improved electrochemical properties might be due to electrochemically produced H2O and the high oxygen coverage near the triple phase boundary of SZY-infiltrated Ni/YSZ. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.