Perovskite anodes, nowadays, are used in any solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) instead of conventional nickel/yttria-stabilized zirconia (Ni/YSZ) anodes due to their better redox and electrochemical stability. A few compositions of samarium-substituted strontium titanate perovskite, Sm x Sr 1−x TiO 3−δ (x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20), were synthesized via the citrate-nitrate auto-combustion route. The XRD patterns of these compositions confirm that the solid solubility limit of Sm in SrTiO 3 is x < 0.15. The X-ray Rietveld refinement for all samples indicated the perovskite cubic structure with a Pm3m space group at room temperature. The EDX mapping of the field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) micrographs of all compositions depicted a lower oxygen content in the specimens respect to the nominal value. This lower oxygen content in the samples were also confirmed via XPS study. The grain sizes of Sm x Sr 1−x TiO 3 samples were found to increase up to x = 0.10 and it decreases for the composition with x > 0.10. The AC conductivity spectra were fitted by Jonscher's power law in the temperature range of 500-700 • C and scaled with the help of the Ghosh and Summerfield scaling model taking ν H and σ dc T as the scaling parameters. The scaling behaviour of the samples showed that the conduction mechanism depends on temperature at higher frequencies. Further, a study of the conduction mechanism unveiled that small polaron hopping occurred with the formation of electrons. The electrical conductivity, in the H 2 atmosphere, of the Sm 0.10 Sr 0.90 TiO 3 sample was found to be 2.7 × 10 −1 S·cm −1 at 650 • C, which is the highest among the other compositions. Hence, the composition Sm 0.10 Sr 0.90 TiO 3 can be considered as a promising material for the application as the anode in SOFCs.Energies 2019, 12, 4042 2 of 16 SOEC technology [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. SOFCs are more efficient in comparison to a conventional power plant and lower temperature polymer-based fuel cells [9,10]. Electrolyte and electrodes are the essential component of a solid oxide fuel cell. Even if anionic, protonic [11,12] and dual-membrane cells [13] are reported, the first are the most studied in the literature. The state of the art material for the electrolyte is fluorite-structured yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) because of its wide range of stability in oxidizing and reducing media [14], although doped ceria [15] and perovskite Sr-and Mg-incorporated lanthanum gallate (LSGM) are considered as alternatives for intermediate operative temperatures. Lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM)-YSZ composite and Sr-and Fe-doped lanthanum cobaltite (LSCF) are extensively used for cathodes, while Ni-based cermets are conventionally used as anode materials for SOFCs [16,17], although this Ni-based cermet anode material should demonstrate volume instability upon redox cycling and low-tolerance to carbon deposition when exposed to hydrogen [18]. Therefore, nickel-free, alternate-structured anode materials are essential to overcome these issues. Recen...