Addition of second metal to Cu is useful for electro-oxidation of hydrocarbons in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). In this work, electro-catalysts based on Cu-Fe bimetallic anode for use of both H-2 and n-C4H10 in SOFC is prepared by wet impregnation method into a porous CeO2-YSZ matrix. The prepared Cu-Fe/CeO2-YSZ anodes are then characterized by thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), elemental dispersive X-ray (EDX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Carbonaceous deposits formed on Cu-Fe/CeO2-YSZ anodes after exposure to n-C4H10 are studied using a combination of i-V characteristics and TGA measurements. It is observed that the addition of Fe to Cu in CeO2-YSZ cermet anode enhance the performance in H-2 and n-C4H10 fuels. The performance of cell having molar ratio of Cu-Fe of 1:1 in Cu-Fe/CeO2-YSZ anode shows power density of 240 mW cm(-2) and 260 mW cm(-2) in n-C4H10 and in H-2 after n-C4H10 flow at 800 degrees C. The i-V curve shows that the conductivity of the anode improves after exposure to n-C4H10. No apparent degradation in performance is observed after n-C4H10 flow except for carbon fibre formation indicating Cu-Fe bimetallic is worth considering as an anode for direct butane SOFC. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.