One-dimensional polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers prepared by electrospinning technique are used as a novel pore-former for the conventional NiO/yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) anodes of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). This pore-former forms wire-like pores in the anode substrates, which are beneficial for rapid transport of the fuel and byproduct. The advantage of using this pore-former over the conventional ones (e.g. wheat flour and carbon) is that only a small amount of fibers could generate large amount of continuous pores within the anode for gas transport. In addition the cell with PVA fibers as pore-former for anode exhibits enhanced anode electrocatalytic activity and the cell performance significantly, compared to the cells without pore-former and with wheat flour as pore-former. In this research, an anode-supported SOFC with PVA fibers as pore-former for anode exhibits an open-circuit voltage (OCV) of 1.08 V and maximum power density of 751 mW cm(-2) at 800 degrees C. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.