Solid oxide cells: one ceramic cell, run as a fuel cell or an electrolyzer

A cut through a solid oxide cell from edge to edge: porous perovskite oxygen electrode, dense yttria-stabilized zirconia electrolyte and Ni–YSZ fuel electrode. On the left the cell runs as a fuel cell, oxide ions moving down to burn hydrogen into water and electricity; on the right the same cell runs backwards as an electrolyzer, splitting steam into hydrogen. Oxygen vacancies made by yttrium doping let the oxide ions hop through the zirconia at 700–1000 °C.

1. Oxygen electrode: A porous perovskite (LSM, LSCF): in fuel-cell mode O₂ takes electrons and becomes O²⁻; in electrolysis mode O²⁻ gives them up and leaves as O₂ (Machado et al. 2024). 2. YSZ electrolyte: Y³⁺ on Zr⁴⁺ sites stabilizes cubic zirconia and creates oxygen vacancies that carry oxide ions (Lee et al. 2022); YSZ is the most used electrolyte, at 700–1000 °C (Machado et al. 2024). 3. Fuel electrode: A porous Ni–YSZ cermet: nickel conducts electrons and catalyses the reaction, YSZ conducts oxide ions (Machado et al. 2024; Gohar et al. 2024). 4. Fuel cell (SOFC): Oxide ions move to the fuel electrode and oxidize hydrogen to water, giving electricity (Machado et al. 2024). 5. Electrolyzer (SOEC): The same materials run backwards: steam (and CO₂) is split at the fuel electrode and O₂ leaves at the oxygen electrode; above 600 °C, 85–100% efficient (Machado et al. 2024), with heat integration into methanol, synthetic fuel or ammonia synthesis (Hauch et al. 2020).

Starting materials: Steam (and CO₂) with electricity, or hydrogen with air. Product: Hydrogen or syngas from electrolysis; electricity and water from the fuel cell.

Machado et al., “Syngas enhancement for Fischer-Tropsch integration via solid oxide electrolyzer cell co-electrolysis with or without methane”, iScience 2024 (doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.111014); Lee et al., “Destabilization and ion conductivity of yttria-stabilized zirconia for solid oxide electrolyte by thermal aging”, Materials 2022 (doi:10.3390/ma15196947); Hauch et al., “Recent advances in solid oxide cell technology for electrolysis”, Science 2020 (doi:10.1126/science.aba6118); Gohar et al., “Navigating the future of solid oxide fuel cell: comprehensive insights into fuel electrode related degradation mechanisms and mitigation strategies”, Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 (doi:10.1016/j.cis.2024.103241).

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