Ru/Nb co-doped perovskite anode: Achieving good coking resistance in hydrocarbon fuels via core-shell nanocatalysts exsolution

• The FRA@FO core-shell nanoparticles were in-situ exsolved on the pervoskite surface. • The surface-decorated R-PSFRN anode showed a good coking resistance in propane. • Effects of the Fe 3 O 4 shell in anodic catalytic reaction were theoretically analyzed. Ru/Nb co-doped (Pr 0.5 Sr 0.5 ) 0.9 Fe 0.8 Ru 0.1 Nb 0.1 O 3- δ (PSFRN) cubic perovskite oxide was fabricated and used as the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) anode material. After treated in wet H 2 at 900 °C for 2 h, the PSFRN was partially transformed into Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) layered perovskite PrSrFe 0.8 Ru 0.1 Nb 0.1 O 4+ δ (RP-PSFRN), and Fe 0.7 Ru 0.3 alloy-FeO x oxide (FRA@FO) core-shell nanoparticles were in-situ exsolved on the reduced-PSFRN (R-PSFRN) substrate surface. The phase transition and the exsolution of the nanoparticles were investigated using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Modified by the in-situ exsolved FRA@FO core-shell nanoparticles, the R-PSFRN anode material showed high catalytic activity for hydrogen and hydrocarbon fuels. The power density of SOFC reached 0.683 and 0.537 W cm −2 with wet H 2 and C 3 H 8 as fuel at 800 °C, respectively. Moreover, the SOFC showed a stable output under a constant current load of 0.15 A cm −2 in C 3 H 8 , demonstrating a high resistance to carbon deposition and coking.