We report the long-term stability of a microtubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) operable at similar to 500 degrees C. The SOFC consists of NiO-Gd doped ceria (GDC) as the anode as well as the tubular support, GDC as an electrolyte and La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-delta (LSCF)-GDC as the cathode. A single tubular cell with a diameter of approximately 1.8 mm and an effective electrode length of approximately 20 mm generated 150 mW cm(-2) and 340 mW cm(-2) at 500 degrees C and 550 degrees C, respectively, under the operation conditions of 0.7 V and humidified H-2 fuel flow. The cell exhibited good stability with a degradation rate of 0.25%/100 h under operation conditions of 200 mA and 0.75 V. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.