Vacuum-assisted electroless copper plating on Ni/(Sm,Ce)O2 anodes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Cu is incorporated by vacuum-assisted electroless plating into porous Ni/Sm_0.2Ce_0.8O_1.9 (Ni/SDC) anodes as the active anodes for the oxidation reaction of hydrogen and methane of intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs). The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation indicates the formation of a uniformly distributed nano-structured Cu network within the porous Ni/SDC microstructure. The maximum power density of the cell with the Cu electroless-plated Ni/SDC anodes is 0.84 and 0.54 W cm⁻² in dry H₂ and dry CH₄ at 600 °C, respectively, enhanced by ∼30% as compared to the cell with conventional Ni/SDC anodes. The increase in the performance of the cell with the Cu electroless-plated Ni/SDC anodes is most likely attributed to the enlarged effective three-phase boundaries (TPBs) by interconnecting the isolated Ni and/or SDC particles with the electroless-plated Cu network and the formation of TPBs at the Cu/SDC interface due to the activation of SDC surface by the Cu deposition. The stability test shows that cell degradation in dry methane due to carbon deposition is significantly reduced by the electroless copper plating.