In order to improve the performance of the anode-supported electrolyte of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), the anode electrode is modified by inserting an anode functional layer of nano-composite powders between a Ni-YSZ electrode and YSZ electrolyte. The NiO-YSZ nano-composite powders are fabricated by coating nano-sized Ni and YSZ particles on the YSZ core particle by the Pechini process. The reduction of the polarization resistance of a single cell that is applied to the anode functional layer is attributed to the increasing reaction of three-phase boundaries (TPBs) within the layer and the micro-structured uniformity in the electrode. Two methods were used, namely tape-casting/dip-coating and tape-casting/co-firing, for studying the performance. It can be concluded that the cell with an anode functional layer thickness (15-20 mu m) and a microstructure of NiO-YSZ nano-composite materials which was fabricated by the tape-casting/dip-coating method improved the output power (to 1.3 W cm(-2)) at 800 degrees C using hydrogen as fuel and air as an oxidant. (C) 2009 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.