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 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.

Automated summary

Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are key devices for realizing the global Hydrogen Economy, but their complex structure and high requirements pose challenges to traditional manufacturing methods. Therefore, additive manufacturing is proposed as a potential technological pathway for low-cost production. However, currently there is no single additive manufacturing technology that can fully meet the requirements of these devices.