In this study, we propose an improvement in the sulfur tolerance of nickel-yttria stabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ) anodes for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) by simultaneously employing optimized operating conditions and microstructural modifications. An electrolyte supported SOFC is operated at 20 ppm H2S impurity at 750 degrees C for 20 h degradation and 10 h recovery test. The current cycles with a higher amplitude and small pulse time during the constant current operation are beneficial for the mitigation of sulfur poisoning. The effect of humidity on the sulfur degradation of Ni-YSZ anode is also studied. The synergetic effect of microstructure modification and current cycling conditions improves the sulfur tolerance of Ni-YSZ anode. It has been found that, when an anode with a modified microstructure by infiltrated CeO2 and Yb2O3 nanoparticles is operated on 20 ppm H2S poisoned gas at 10% relative humidity and the optimum pulsed current cycling conditions, about 7 times less degradation of the SOFC performance is observed. This study shows that at lower H2S concentration, a stable operation of a SOFC with minimum degradation can be achieved with the combination of optimization of operating conditions and modification of the anode microstructure. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.