Fe alloying effect on the performance of the Ni anode in hydrogen fuel

Composite materials of YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia) with various Ni–Fe alloys were synthesized and evaluated as the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) anode using a 200-µm thick YSZ electrolyte as support and YSZ +La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 (LSM) as cathode. The single cell with the YSZ + Ni0.75Fe0.25 anode exhibited the highest performance among all the investigated cells, e.g. a peak power density of 403, 337, 218 and 112 mW/cm2 was achieved with H2 fuel at 900, 850, 800 and 750 °C, respectively. The composite anode with the Ni0.75Fe0.25 alloy also had the lowest polarization resistance of 0.55 Ω·cm2 at 800 °C among all the alloy compositions, indicating that this specific alloy offered a better anode composition than pure Ni. The possible mechanism for the improved performance of Ni with the Fe alloying addition towards H2 oxidation was discussed.