Thermodynamic calculations have been made to predict the stability of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) anode materials when exposed to hydrogen sulphide (H2S) in hydrogen (H,) over a range of partial pressures of sulphur (pS(2)) and oxygen (pO(2)) representative of fuel cell operating conditions. The study focussed on the behaviour of nickel and ceria, which form the basis of nickel-gadolinium-doped ceria (Ni-CGO) anodes, often used as an active layer within SOFCs. The reaction of Ni with sulphur is predicted to become more favourable as temperature and hydrogen partial pressure (pH(2)) decrease. Ceria is shown to become increasingly non-stoichiometric (CeOn,n < 2) as pO(2) decreases and temperature increases, and it is predicted that its reaction with sulphur becomes more favourable under these conditions. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.