Large-scale protonic ceramic electrochemical cells fabricated by inkjet printing

Abstract

The transition to a sustainable energy system requires that hydrogen technology move beyond laboratory demonstrations to commercial viability. Proton ceramic electrochemical cells (PCECs) are considered promising candidates for this transition because they enable both high-efficiency hydrogen-fuelled power generation and eco-friendly hydrogen production at low temperature regimes. This study demonstrates for the first time the feasibility of manufacturing large-scale, high-performance PCECs with reversible operation using inkjet printing. A 6 × 6 cm2 PCEC with a 3 μm-thick electrolyte layer was fabricated using functional ceramic inks specifically designed for bottom-up assembly and scalable inkjet printing. The inkjet-printed PCEC achieved a peak power density of 1 W/cm2 in fuel cell mode and a current density of 1.8 A/cm2 at 1.3 V in electrolysis mode at 650 °C. Durability testing demonstrated a degradation rate of less than 1 mV h−1 at 600 °C, and the hydrogen production rate in electrolysis mode was maintained stably at approximately 40 sccm for 100 h. These results demonstrate the strong potential of inkjet printing as a scalable manufacturing method for high-performance PCECs and pave the way toward commercial hydrogen production.