Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with Sm0.2Ce0.8O2-delta (SDC) as the electrolyte are successfully prepared by a single-step co-firing process with the sintering temperature as low as 1100 degrees C. Different from the conventional SOFC preparation procedure that involves multistep firing processes, the single-step co-firing preparation procedure simplifies the fuel cell preparation procedure and additionally improves the fuel cell performance. The cell prepared by the single-step process exhibits the maximum power density of 289 mW cm(-2) at 700 degrees C, while the cell prepared by the conventional method is only 211 mW cm(-2), with an increase of 37% been achieved. The impedance analysis reveals that the single co-firing procedure not only improves the contact between the electrolyte and electrodes, but also lowers the cell polarization resistance, thus leading to a better fuel cell performance. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.