Amorphous ceramic material as sulfur-tolerant anode for SOFC

The amorphous LaMoO material was investigated as a sulfur-tolerant anode for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), which was obtained by reducing the ionic conductor La2 Mo2 O9 in the SOFC anodic atmosphere. The performance of the amorphous anode was assessed using the electrolyte-supported cells with a 300 μm thick La0.8 Sr0.2 Ga0.83 Mg0.17 O3-δ disk as the electrolyte and Sr Co0.8 Fe0.2 O3-δ as the cathode. A single cell with the LaMoO anode achieved a maximum power density of 1.49 and 0.86 W cm2 in dry H2 at 900 and 800°C, respectively. Essentially, no decay in cell performance was observed over 100 h in both pure H2 and H2 containing 20 ppm H2 S, indicating that the amorphous material is a potential sulfur-tolerant anode. The degradation of the LaMoO anode in a higher concentration of H2 S was likely due to its chemical reaction with H2 S. © 2008 The Electrochemical Society.