Stannate-Based Ceramic Oxide as Anode Materials for Oxide-Ion Conducting Low-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Lanthanum-doped barium stannate, Ba 0.98 La 0.02 SnO 3 (LBS) ceramic oxide was developed as an alternative redox stable anode material for oxide-ion conducting, low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (350–650°C). LBS with ZnO as a sintering aid exhibited a high electronic conductivity of 216 S/cm at 650°C under reducing gas conditions. A flexural strength of ∼66 MPa at 550°C was obtained for ZnO-doped LBS; further investigation revealed that it can withstand 10 reduction-oxidation and thermal cycles. The performance of ZnO-doped LBS as an anode was determined with a GDC based electrolyte-supported SOFC. The catalytic activity for hydrogen oxidation and oxide conductivity was introduced by infiltration of Ni-GDC precursor. The maximum power densities of 0.28 W/cm 2 (at 0.6 A/cm 2 ) and 0.17 W/cm 2 (at 0.36 A/cm 2 ) was achieved at 650 and 600°C, respectively, in humidified hydrogen as fuel for 2 wt% ZnO-doped LBS.