Developments in CO2 Electrolysis of Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell with Different Cathodes

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. High temperature CO2 electrolysis based on solid oxide electrolysis cell has been proved as an effective method to produce sustainable fuels and reduce greenhouse emissions. The performance of cathodes as the place where the electrolysis reaction takes place for fuel gas affects the efficiency of SOEC, whereas traditional cathodes show relatively low catalytic activity towards CO2 electrolysis. 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 different cathodes of solid oxide electrolysis cell used for CO2 electrolysis is summarized, from the study of new materials with different doping ratios for CO2 electrolysis, to the microstructure optimization of electrode. It was found, that both durability and catalytic activity for the cathode materials could significantly improve the performance of single cells of SOEC. Finally, more prospects for future research work are put forward.