1406
Addition of Protonic Conductors to Enhance SOFC Anode Performance

Thursday, 2 June 2016: 12:00
Indigo Ballroom C (Hilton San Diego Bayfront)
J. Irvine, C. Jiang (University of St Andrews), J. Ma (University of St. Andrews), P. Connor (University of St-Andrews), and M. Cassidy (University of St. Andrews)
A BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.1Yb0.1O3-δ (BCZYYb) infiltrated Ni-YSZ anode was investigated for biogas conversion. The infiltration of BCZYYb significantly promoted the electrochemical reactions and the cells exhibited high power output at the operational temperatures over 750 °C. At 800 °C, supplied with 20 ml min-1 biogas, the cell with a BCZYYb-Ni-YSZ anode, generated 1.69 A cm-2 at 0.8 V with an optimal amount of 0.6 wt% BCZYYb, whereas only 0.65 A cm-2 was produced with a non-infiltrated Ni-YSZ in the same conditions. At 750 °C, a maximum power density of 1.43 W cm-2 was achieved on a cell with a BCZYYb-Ni-YSZ anode, a 3 µm dense YSZ film electrolyte, a Gd0.1Ce0.9O2 (GDC) buffer layer and a La0.8Sr0.2Co0.8Fe0.2O3-Gd0.1Ce0.9O2 (LSCF-GDC) composite cathode. The cell remained stable, while operating at 0.8 V for 50 hours with a current density of 1.25 A cm-2. A well-designed cell structure and selected components made it possible to obtain excellent performance at good fuel utilisation. The analysis of gases in open-circuit conditions or under various current loads suggested that the prevalent reaction was reforming of methane without coking. This study demonstrated that BCZYYb-Ni-YSZ is a promising electrode for carbon-containing fuels.