La2O3 and Sm2O3 are added into Ni-Mo-Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9 (SDC) as anodes of solid oxide fuel cells with methanol as fuel. The rare earth oxides improve the catalytic oxidation of the fuel, resulting in the decrease of anodic polarization resistance. The single cell with La2O3-Ni-Mo-SDC as the anode and SDC-carbonate composite as the electrolyte exhibits a maximum power density of 765 mW cm(-2) at 700 degrees C. The oxides in the anodes also improve the stability of single cells due to the accelerated oxidation of the deposited carbon and the suppression of the deposition of carbon with a high graphitization degree. (C) 2017 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.