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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.

Electrochemical synthesis of ammonia from water vapour and nitrogen was investigated using an electrolytic cell based on CoFe2O4-Ce0.8Gd0.18Ca0.02O2-δ (CFO-CGDC), CGDC-ternary carbonate composite and Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3-δ-Ce0.8Gd0.18Ca0.02O2-δ (SSCo-CGDC) as cathode, electrolyte and anode respectively. CoFe2O4, CGDC and SCCo were prepared via a combined EDTA-citrate complexing sol-gel and characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The AC ionic conductivities of the CGDC-carbonate composite were investigated under three different atmospheres (air, dry O2 and wet 5% H2-Ar). A tri-layer electrolytic cell was fabricated by a cost-effective one-step dry-pressing and co-firing process. Ammonia was successfully synthesised from water vapour and nitrogen under atmospheric pressure and the maximum rate of ammonia production was found to be 6.5 ×10-11 mol s-1 cm-2 at 400 ºC and 1.6 V which is two orders of magnitude higher than that of previous report when ammonia was synthesised from N2 and H2O at 650 °C.

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