Half-cell study of La and Ca doped strontium titanates anode for direct methane solid oxide fuel cell

Abstract

One of the major advantages of Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) over other fuel cell is use of direct natural gas at high temperature without any external reformer. Conventional nickel-yttria stabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ) composite anode provides excellent catalytic property, current collection and stability for H2 oxidation but it is not tolerant towards sulphur poisoning and also accelerates coke deposition in presence of methane fuel. It necessitates the use of alternate anode for direct hydrocarbon fuel. In the present work, attempts have been made to apply La and Ca doped A-site deficient SrTiO3 (LSCTA-) as potential anode for direct methane SOFC. Low catalytic activity of LSCTA- is improved by infiltration of Ni and CeO2 catalyst. Half cell (YSZ/4%Ni-6%CeO2-LSCTA-) provided 200 mW cm-2 maximum power density and regain its initial performance in H2 even after 6 h exposure to humidified CH4 at 800 °C.