Preparation and performance of a Cu–CeO2–ScSZ composite anode for SOFCs running on ethanol fuel

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) that can operate directly on hydrocarbon fuels, without external reforming, have the potential of greatly speeding up the application of SOFCs for transportation and distributed-power supplies. In this paper, a dual tape casting method for fabricating an anode-supported thin-electrolyte (scandia stabilized zirconia (ScSZ)) film and SOFCs that are active for the oxidation of wet ethanol was presented. The fabrication method relies upon the inclusion of ammonium oxalate ((NH4)2C2O4·H2O) pore formers in the anode green tape in order to produce a porous ScSZ matrix, which forms the anode after wet impregnation with aqueous solutions of Cu(NO3)2 and Ce(NO3)3, and firing. Anodes with different ratios of copper to ceria but with the same total loading were fabricated and measured. The performance characteristics for such cells were studied in both H2 and C2H5OH + H2O, for comparison, and the long-term performance of the cells in C2H5OH stream at 800 °C was also presented.