Yukito KATO

Enhancement of the anodic oxidation of methane by compound type cermet anode

Kazunori Sato

Direct use of methane for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) at low operating temperatures is important in order to achieve the highest efficiency for electric power generation.
However, current SOFCs are not suitable for the direct use of methane primarily due to an increase in the overvoltage with an occurrence of the carbon deposition at the anode.
In this research, the Ni1-XCoX / Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9 (SDC) cermet anode combined with the SDC electrolyte showed an enhancement for the anodic oxidation of methane.
This enhancement is related to a decrease in the Ohmic resistance of the anode and the interfacial resistance between the anode and the electrolyte, which is caused by the grain growth occurring in both Ni1-XCoX and SDC particles.
The cell performance was found to be improved by the alloying effect in the cermet anode.