The commercialization of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technologies requires the development of novel anode materials with high performance and good carbon and sulfur tolerance at intermediate-temperatures, either by modifying the state-of-the-art Ni based anodes, or through exploring alternative metal cermet or ceramic based materials. Wet impregnation is an effective approach for the optimization of traditional Ni-based anode and the incorporation of novel anode species into porous backbones. Due to the lower treatment temperature, the impregnated particles are usually nano-sized, thus exhibiting superior electrochemical performance. In this paper, the superiority and application of these nano-structured anodes are discussed in details, based on the obtained results in our laboratory, as well as some reports in the literatures.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical TPB lengths of conventional anode and nano-structured anode
3 Effects of impregnation method and anode microstructure on the cell performance
3.1 Performance of nano-structured SOFC anodes
3.2 Effects of impregnation parameters on nano-structured SOFC anode performance
3.3 Effects of impregnation species on anode performance
4 Application of nano-structured impregnated anodes in hydrocarbon fuels SOFC
4.1 Nano-structured Ni-based impregnated anodes
4.2 Nano-structured Cu-based impregnated anodes
4.3 Nano-structured perovskite-based impregnated anodes
5 Sulfur tolerance of nano-structured impregnated anodes
6 Summary and outlook