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

Abstract

Abstract 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 0.8 Y 0.2 ) 0.9 (Ni 0.5 Ru 0.5 ) 0.1 O 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% H 2 O) 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.