Formidable Challenges in Additive Manufacturing of Solid Oxide Electrolyzers (SOECs) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) for Electrolytic Hydrogen Economy toward Global Decarbonization

Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are the leading high-temperature devices to realize the global “Hydrogen Economy”. These devices are inherently multi-material (ceramic and cermets). They have multi-scale, multilayer configurations (a few microns to hundreds...

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Main Author: Majid Minary-Jolandan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-10-01
Series:Ceramics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6131/5/4/55
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author Majid Minary-Jolandan
author_facet Majid Minary-Jolandan
author_sort Majid Minary-Jolandan
collection DOAJ
description Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are the leading high-temperature devices to realize the global “Hydrogen Economy”. These devices are inherently multi-material (ceramic and cermets). They have multi-scale, multilayer configurations (a few microns to hundreds of microns) and different morphology (porosity and densification) requirements for each layer. Adjacent layers should exhibit chemical and thermal compatibility and high-temperature mechanical stability. Added to that is the need to stack many cells to produce reasonable power. The most critical barriers to widespread global adoption of these devices have been their high cost and issues with their reliability and durability. Given their complex structure and stringent requirements, additive manufacturing (AM) has been proposed as a possible technological path to enable the low-cost production of durable devices to achieve economies of scale. However, currently, there is no single AM technology capable of 3D printing these devices at the complete cell level or, even more difficult, at the stack level. This article provides an overview of challenges that must be overcome for AM to be a viable path for the manufacturing of SOECs and SOFCs. A list of recommendations is provided to facilitate such efforts.
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spelling doaj.art-687e983b413e4874a3ec67566df84f8a2023-11-24T13:56:40ZengMDPI AGCeramics2571-61312022-10-015476177910.3390/ceramics5040055Formidable Challenges in Additive Manufacturing of Solid Oxide Electrolyzers (SOECs) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) for Electrolytic Hydrogen Economy toward Global DecarbonizationMajid Minary-Jolandan0Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, USASolid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are the leading high-temperature devices to realize the global “Hydrogen Economy”. These devices are inherently multi-material (ceramic and cermets). They have multi-scale, multilayer configurations (a few microns to hundreds of microns) and different morphology (porosity and densification) requirements for each layer. Adjacent layers should exhibit chemical and thermal compatibility and high-temperature mechanical stability. Added to that is the need to stack many cells to produce reasonable power. The most critical barriers to widespread global adoption of these devices have been their high cost and issues with their reliability and durability. Given their complex structure and stringent requirements, additive manufacturing (AM) has been proposed as a possible technological path to enable the low-cost production of durable devices to achieve economies of scale. However, currently, there is no single AM technology capable of 3D printing these devices at the complete cell level or, even more difficult, at the stack level. This article provides an overview of challenges that must be overcome for AM to be a viable path for the manufacturing of SOECs and SOFCs. A list of recommendations is provided to facilitate such efforts.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6131/5/4/55SOECSOFChydrogen economyrenewable energydecarbonizationadditive manufacturing
spellingShingle Majid Minary-Jolandan
Formidable Challenges in Additive Manufacturing of Solid Oxide Electrolyzers (SOECs) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) for Electrolytic Hydrogen Economy toward Global Decarbonization
Ceramics
SOEC
SOFC
hydrogen economy
renewable energy
decarbonization
additive manufacturing
title Formidable Challenges in Additive Manufacturing of Solid Oxide Electrolyzers (SOECs) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) for Electrolytic Hydrogen Economy toward Global Decarbonization
title_full Formidable Challenges in Additive Manufacturing of Solid Oxide Electrolyzers (SOECs) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) for Electrolytic Hydrogen Economy toward Global Decarbonization
title_fullStr Formidable Challenges in Additive Manufacturing of Solid Oxide Electrolyzers (SOECs) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) for Electrolytic Hydrogen Economy toward Global Decarbonization
title_full_unstemmed Formidable Challenges in Additive Manufacturing of Solid Oxide Electrolyzers (SOECs) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) for Electrolytic Hydrogen Economy toward Global Decarbonization
title_short Formidable Challenges in Additive Manufacturing of Solid Oxide Electrolyzers (SOECs) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) for Electrolytic Hydrogen Economy toward Global Decarbonization
title_sort formidable challenges in additive manufacturing of solid oxide electrolyzers soecs and solid oxide fuel cells sofcs for electrolytic hydrogen economy toward global decarbonization
topic SOEC
SOFC
hydrogen economy
renewable energy
decarbonization
additive manufacturing
url https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6131/5/4/55
work_keys_str_mv AT majidminaryjolandan formidablechallengesinadditivemanufacturingofsolidoxideelectrolyzerssoecsandsolidoxidefuelcellssofcsforelectrolytichydrogeneconomytowardglobaldecarbonization