THE ROLE OF SULFUR IN THE POROUS CERMET SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL ANODE MICROSTRUCTURE

摘要

Sulfur poisoning can deactivate nickel catalysts in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), resulting in a significant drop in fuel cell performance. In this paper, a Ni/YSZ SOFC anode exposed to 100 ppm H_2S was examined using x-ray absorption contrast imaging for its microstructure and x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy to probe and map Ni, S, and YSZ phases. It was observed that S was frequently found to be collocated with Ni, with higher concentrations being located on or near the surface of the Ni particles exposed to gas, while little S was found near the YSZ phase.