Electrochemical investigation of multi-fuel based low temperature nano-composite anode for solid oxide fuel cell

Abstract Extensive efforts have been made in order to develop multi-fuel-based low temperature solid oxide fuel cell for direct conversion of hydrocarbons to electric power. It is extremely difficult to operate due to the C H activation and its tremendously sluggish oxidation reduction in the low temperature range from 300 to 600 °C. The structural and electrochemical properties of novel anode material Ni 0.6 (Ba 0.3 Ce 0.2 Zn 0.5 ) 0.4 have been investigated in the presence of hydrogen, natural gas, ethanol, glucose, and sugar-cane at low temperature of 600 °C. Through sol-gel method the proposed oxide material is synthesized. The composite average crystalline size has been found 25–90 nm by both scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. The ultraviolet– visible and Fourier transform infrared techniques are used to determine band gap and absorption spectrum respectively. The power density of the cell at various fuels has been observed and measurements indicate that it varies from 57 to 315 mWcm −2 at 600 °C among different fuels at anode side. The current study reveals that proposed anode Ni 0.6 (Ba 0.3 Ce 0.2 Zn 0.5 ) 0.4 is promising multi-fuel anode material for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell, and it does not need to reform hydrocarbon fuels in order to fully utilize the advantage of these cells.