A Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Runs on Hydrocarbon Fuels with Exceptional Durability and Power Output

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) that can operate on hydrocarbon fuels offer an efficient and cost-effective solution for electricity generation. However, broader commercialization of SOFCs is hindered by inadequate performance and limited durability due to the sluggish hydrocarbon reforming/oxidation kinetics and coking on the SOFC anode. Here it has been reported that these findings in design, synthesis, and characterization of a novel anode catalyst Ba(Zr_0.8Y_0.2)_0.9(Ni_0.5Ru_0.5)_0.1O_3-δ (BZYNR) that overcomes the problems, enabling direct utilization of nearly dry hydrocarbon fuels (e.g., methane, ethanol, and iso-octane with only 3 vol% H₂O) with exceptional power output for over 1000 h on both button cells and tubular cells. The outstanding performance of BZYNR is attributed to the high activity of hydrocarbon reforming and the accelerated water-mediated carbon cleaning process on Ni-based SOFC anode.