Ni-doped Ba0.9Zr0.8Y0.2O3-δ as a methane dry reforming catalyst for direct CH4–CO2 solid oxide fuel cells

Fuel flexibility is one of the significant advantages of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The utilization of methane in SOFCs can not only reduce fuel costs, but also greatly expand its application scenarios, which is of great significance to the commercial development of SOFCs. However, when methane is directly used, Ni-based cermet anode suffers from coking, which seriously affects the durability of the cell. To alleviate the coking issue, a reforming layer outside the Ni-based anode-supporter was proposed in this study, and Ba 0.9 (Zr 0.8 Y 0.2 ) 1- x Ni x O 3-δ (BZYNi x , x  = 0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2) was used as reforming layer material. Among BZYNi x catalysts, BZYNi 0.2 exhibited excellent catalytic activity toward dry reforming of methane, and methane conversion was as high as 85% at 750 °C. The excellent catalytic durability and coking-resistance of BZYNi 0.2 were also confirmed. When BZYNi 0.2 reforming layer was applied, the single cell fueled with CH 4 –CO 2 fuel showed significantly improved electrochemical performance, durability and coking-resistance. The utilization of BZYNi 0.2 reforming layer provides guidance for solving the coking issue of SOFC cermet anodes when fueled with hydrocarbon.