Highly cost-effective and sulfur/coking resistant VOx-grafted TiO2 nanoparticles as an efficient anode catalyst for direct conversion of dry sour methane in solid oxide fuel cells

In this work, we show that grafted metal oxide can be a highly cost-effective and active anode for solid oxide fuel cells for sour methane conversion. The developed electro-catalyst was composed of vanadium oxide grafted TiO2 nanopartides (VOx/TiO2) infiltrated into a porous La0.4Sr0.5Ba0.1TiO3,5 electron-conductive composite. A number of chemisorbed vanadia species on TiO2 have been identified by XRD, FTIR, XPS and ToF-SIMS anaEyses; the morphoEogies of grafted TiO2 nanopartides were characterized using SEM and TEM. The thermal stability of vanadia was greatly enhanced due to strong binding interaction with the support. In the chemical activity investigation using a fixed bed catalytic reactor, VOx/TiO2 showed significantly improved activity towards sour methane gas (0.5% H2S + CH4) oxidation in a diluted stream of oxygen. The Eectrochemical activity was determined using a SOFC that empEoyed the VOx/TiO2 infiltrated titanate anode. This cell had a maximum power density of 160 mW cm(-2) and a non-ohmic poEarization resistance of <1 cm(2) in 0.5% H2S + CH4. Additionay, the performance of the novel anode materiaE did not degrade during the 24 h test at 0.7 V with VOx/TiO2 suppressing coke formation on the anode.