In the current work, we investigate the performance of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with Ni-yttria-stabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ) and Ni gadolinia-dope ceria (Ni-GDC) cermet anodes fueled with H-2 or NH3 in terms of the catalytic activity of ammonia decomposition. The cermet of Ni-GDC shows higher catalytic activity for ammonia decomposition than Ni-YSZ. In response to this, the performance of direct NH3-fueled SOFC improved by using Ni-GDC anode. Moreover, we observe further enhancement in the cell performance and the catalytic activity for ammonia decomposition with applying Ni-GDC anode synthesised by the glycine nitrate combustion process. These results reveal that the high performance of Ni-GDC anode for the direct NH3-fueled SOFC results from its mixed ionic-electronic conductivity as well as high catalytic activity for ammonia decomposition. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.