Preparation and Performance of CuO-GDC Anode Supported Unit Cells for Direct Utilization of Hydrocarbon Fuels

Abstract

The CuO-ceria anodes have been developed for direct utilization of hydrocarbon fuels in SOFCs. The Cu in the anode has a part of an electric conductivity as well as carbon tolerance. On the other hand, because of no catalytic activity of Cu for direct electrochemical oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels, CeO2 materials were used to catalyze the oxidation reaction at the operating temperature range of IT-SOFCs (600 ~ 800 oC). Dense ceria electrolyte was sintered at temperature below 1100 oC using small amounts (about 1 mol%) of transition metal oxide (CuO and Co3O4) additives. Therefore, the CuO-GDC anode supported electrolyte cells could be fabricated via tape-casting and co-firing as the cost-effective process. The CuO-ceria baased anodes showed the maximum power density of 0.11 Wcm-2 and almost no carbon deposition until 500 hours.