Metal-supported solid oxide fuel cell system with infiltrated reforming catalyst layer for direct ethanol feed operation

Abstract

In this work, we introduce a Rhodium-Ceria-Zirconia (Rh/CZ) internal reforming catalyst layer to a high-performance metal-supported solid oxide fuel cell (MS-SOFC). The catalyst is applied by infiltrating Rh, CeO2, and ZrO2 precursors into the stainless steel (SS 430) support. The cell is tested by directly feeding an ethanol solution (45 vol%) into the anode at 600 °C. Our experimental results show that the button cell with the infiltrated 5 wt% Rh/CZ demonstrates an improved performance over the button cell without the catalyst layer by enhancing the internal reforming activity of ethanol toward the production of synthesis gas. The maximum current density improved from 0.3 A cm−2 to 0.4 A cm−2 while the long-term stability was also greatly improved. Post mortem cell analysis reveals that the infiltrated catalyst layer can prevent severe coke deposition from the cell's anode functional layer. The proposed integrated reforming catalyst and MS-SOFC system is a promising pathway to enable bioethanol fed-SOFC technology for future electric vehicles.