There has been an urgent need for new hydrogen separation membrane materials at an acceptable cost that can operate under demanding environmental conditions while providing the desired performance. The proposed method promises to substantially decrease the material cost while maximizing the hydrogen permeation rates while meeting strong resistance to hydrogen embrittlement, not to mention that the enhancement of mechanical strength by using cermet. Most importantly, they clearly further enhance the sulfur tolerance by using not only more H(2)S tolerant alloys but also higher oxygen ion conducting ceramics as matrix. Our results shows that no sharp drop in hydrogen permeation flux was observed at 220 ppm H(2)S, which greatly exceeds the theoretical values. a 40 ppm H(2)S with10% H(2)/balance He at 600 degrees C, confirming that the permeated oxygen from the water splitting should have oxidized the sulfur to prevent any palladium sulfide (Pd(4)S) formation on the Pd-cermet membrane surface. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.