Pentlandite-MoS2 as sulfur tolerant anode materials for solid oxide fuel cells

Abstract

(Co, Ni)9S8 pentlandite was prepared via the hydrothermal method and applied with MoS2 as the sulfur tolerant anode materials for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). XRD patterns showed that (Co, Ni)9S8 was converted from (Co, Ni)3S4 at temperature higher than 600 °C. The performance of the single cell with (Co, Ni)9S8 -MoS2-YSZ (8% yttria stabilized zirconia) anode was 104.5 mWcm−2 in 50 ppm H2S-H2 at 850 °C, which was significantly higher than that of 52.8 mWcm−2 in pure H2. The sulfur tolerance of the anode was attributed to the mitigation of the sulfur occupation and promotion of the H2 adsorption and dissociation by the (Co, Ni)9S8 -MoS2 materials. The cell performance was maintained relatively stable during a preliminary test of 110 min in H2S-containing atmosphere, indicating (Co, Ni)9S8-MoS2 as promising sulfur-tolerant anode materials for SOFC applications.