Comparison of the performance of Cu–CeO₂–YSZ and Ni–YSZ composite SOFC anodes with H₂, CO, and syngas

By Costa-Nunes, Olga; Gorte, Raymond J. & Vohs, John M.
Published in Journal of Power Sources NULL 2005

Abstract

In this study the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with Cu–CeO₂–yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) was compared to an SOFC with Ni–YSZ anode while operating on H₂, CO, and syngas fuels. Cells with Cu–CeO₂–YSZ anodes exhibited similar performance when operating on H₂ or CO fuels, while cells with Ni–YSZ anodes exhibited substantially lower performance when operating on CO compared with H₂. Enhancing the catalytic activity of the Cu–CeO₂–YSZ anodes by adding Co was shown to produce cells that exhibited higher performance when operating on CO compared to H₂ at 973 K. The effect of fuel concentration and dilution on cell performance was also investigated and it was found that the kinetics of the oxidation of H₂ are positive order in P H 2 for Cu–CeO₂–YSZ anodes and nearly zero order in P H ₂ for Ni–YSZ anodes. The oxidation of CO on Cu–CeO₂–YSZ anodes was also found to exhibit positive order in PCO. It was also demonstrated that dilution of H2 by H₂O had little effect on the kinetics of H₂ oxidation on both the Cu–CeO₂–YSZ and Ni–YSZ anodes.

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