MA Zheng¹, LIU Chao¹, PU Jiangge¹, CHEN Xing¹, ZHOU Juan¹, WANG Shaorong²

(1. School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, Jiangsu, China; 2. School of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, Jiangsu, China)

Abstract: Solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) is a device that can efficiently convert excessive power of renewable energy such as wind or solar energy into chemical energy. Its principle is the inverse process of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), which is widely studied at present. SOEC is mainly composed of cathode (fuel electrode), anode (oxygen electrode) and electrolyte. The performance of cathode as the place of fuel gas electrolysis/co-electrolysis affects the efficiency of SOEC. Besides meeting the general requirements of electrode materials, the cathode of SOEC also has to have the ability to maintain good electrocatalytic activity in high temperature and humidity environment. In recent years, in addition to the optimization of traditional Ni-based cathodes, the research on perovskite cathodes with better redox stability has been carried out rapidly. In this paper, the development of cathode in solid oxide electrolysis cell is summarized, from the optimization of electrode microstructures to the study of new materials with different doping ratios for electrolysis/co-electrolysis. It was found that cathode materials with good durability and catalytic activity could significantly improve the performance of batteries and the service life of SOEC. Finally, more prospects for future research work are put forward.
Key words: solid oxide electrolysis cells; cathode; electrolysis/co-electrolysis