nd an

ised fo SV w solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have very poor tolerance to performances were among the best reported in the literature for SOFCs using H2S-containing fuels [3,5–10]. In addi-dates (LSV for La1xSrxVO3) were focused on the crystal various atmospheres, especially in sulfur containing fuels. Neither are there any reports on electrical conductivity nor coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of LSV at high ge of Sr contents. In Solid State Ionics 176 (2005)tion, it was found that La0.7Sr0.3VO3 exhibited selectiveH2S contaminants in the fuel [1–3]. Although the mecha-nism of H2S poisoning is yet to be determined [4], it is certain that exposure to fuels containing more than 100 ppm of H2S causes great loss to the performance of SOFCs with Ni/YSZ anode [1,3]. The removal of H2S in the fuel incurs additional complexity and cost. Recently, it was reported that a strontium doped lanthanum vanadate with a nominal composition of La0.7Sr0.3VO3 was used as the anode material for SOFC operating on fuels containing high concentration (up to 10 vol.%) of H2S [5,6]. The cell structure and the related electrical and magnetic properties at temperatures below ¨500-C [11–16]. LaVO3 is a semi-conductor while SrVO3 displays a metallic behavior with conductivity as high as 1000 S cm1 [11,12,15–17] at 800-C in reducing atmosphere. Previous researches showed that LSVexhibits a transition from antiferromagnetic insulator to paramagnetic metal with increasing Sr content near x =0.2 [13,15]. To the best of our knowledge, however, none of previous studies were directed towards the understanding of the chemical stability of LSV at high temperatures under(SOFCs) was characterized using impedance spectroscopy. It was found that the La1xSrxVO3 materials with x in the range of 0.3–0.7 exhibit good resistance to H2S, high electrical conductivity and acceptable catalytic activity at elevated temperatures in reducing atmosphere. However, the volume change associated with oxidation/reduction cycle may limit their tolerance to re-oxidation when used as anode materials for SOFCs