The fi eld of research into solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) anode materials has been rapidly moving forward. In the four years since the last in-depth review signifi cant advancements have been made in the reduction of the operating temperature and improvement of the performance of SOFCs. This progress report examines the developments in the fi eld and looks to draw conclusions and inspiration from this research. A brief introduction is given to the fi eld, followed by an overview of the principal previous materials. A detailed analysis of the developments of the last 4 years is given using a selection of the available literature, concentrating on metal-fl uorite cermets and perovskitebased materials. This is followed by a consideration of alternate fuels for use in SOFCs and their associated problems and a short discussion on the effect of synthesis method on anode performance. The concluding remarks compile the signifi cant developments in the fi eld along with a consideration of the promise of future research. The recent progress in the development of anode materials for SOFCs based on oxygen ion conducting electrolytes is reviewed.

Piezoelectric sensors and actuators are a mature technology, commonplace amongst a plethora of industrial fields including automotive, maritime and non-destructive testing. However the environments that these devices are required to serve in are becoming more demanding, with temperatures being driven higher to increase efficiencies and reduce shut-downs. Materials to survive these temperatures have been the focus of many research groups over the last decade, but there still remains no standard for the measurement of piezoelectric materials at high temperature. This is required to effectively determine comparable Figures of Merit into which devices can be successfully designed. As part of a recent European effort to establish metrological techniques for high temperature evaluation of electro-mechanical properties, we present here a review of the most promising high temperature polycrystalline materials. Where their properties allow operation above that of the ubiquitous commercial material lead zirconate titanate, as well as work done to modify a promising high temperature system, for use as a material standard.

A-site substituted cerium metavanadates, Ce1-xSrxVO3, were synthesised by solid-state reactions from single-phase powders of the corresponding orthovanadates. All samples were found to exhibit an orthorhombic perovskite structure of space group Pnma (62) with a = 5.5181 (3), b = 7.7853 (2) and c = 5.5155 (4) angstrom for Ce0.85Sr0.15VO3. Conductivity measurements were performed in air and in dry 5% H-2-Ar with conductivity values at 700 degrees C ranging from 0.1 to 2.5 S cm(-1) with peaking at 6 S cm(-1) in reduced atmosphere. X-Ray diffraction patterns and thermal analyses have shown that the reduction of Sr-doped CeVO3 from the equivalent orthovanadate is redox phase reversible without formation of parasitic phases while the undoped CeVO4 is not

Electrode materials which exhibit high conductivities in both oxidising and reducing atmospheres are in high demand for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and solid oxide electrolytic cells (SOECs). In this paper, we investigated Cu-doped SrFe0.9Nb0.1O3−δ finding that the primitive perovskite oxide SrFe0.8Cu0.1Nb0.1O3−δ (SFCN) exhibits a conductivity of 63 Scm−1and 60 Scm−1 at 415 °C in air and 5%H2/Ar respectively. It is believed that the high conductivity in 5%H2/Ar is related to the exsolved Fe (or FeCu alloy) on exposure to a reducing atmosphere. To the best of our knowledge, the conductivity of SrFe0.8Cu0.1Nb0.1O3−δ in a reducing atmosphere is the highest of all reported oxides which also exhibit a high conductivity in air. Fuel cell performance using SrFe0.8Cu0.1Nb0.1O3−δ as the anode, (Y2O3)0.08(ZrO2)0.92 as the electrolyte and La0.8Sr0.2FeO3−δ as the cathode achieved a power density of 423 mWcm−2 at 700 °C indicating that SFCN is a promising anode for SOFCs.

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