High-Performance Tubular Protonic Ceramic Electrochemical Cells Manufactured by Laser 3D Printing Technique

Abstract

Protonic ceramic electrochemical cells have attracted extensive interest as energy conversion and storage devices working at intermediate temperatures (400-600℃). Tubular protonic ceramic electrochemical cells (T-PCECs) exhibit plenty of merits over the planar one, such as less sealing requirement, rapid start-up/shut-down, better thermal cycle stability, enhanced thermomechanical properties, and good thermal shock resistance. Additive manufacturing can offer new possibilities of flexible, precise, and repeatable fabrication of scalable T-PCECs, which can pave the way for the wide applications of T-PCECs. In this study, we manufactured large-scale (>10 cm2) T-PCECs (with BaZr0.7Ce0.2Y0.1O3-δ (BZCY72), BZCY72-NiO, BaCo0.4Fe0.4Zr0.1Y0.1O3-δ as the electrolyte, fuel electrode, and oxygen electrode, respectively) by a laser 3D printing technique that integrated microextrusion-based 3D printing and laser processing (laser drying, polishing, and cutting). High maximum power densities (>400 mW/cm2) and low total polarization resistances (<0.1 Ω cm2) were achieved at 600℃ for fuel cell operation. Besides, excellent thermal cycling stability and outstanding long-term stability were also demonstrated. The high-performance, durable, and mechanically robust T-PCECs indicate that laser 3D printing is a promising manufacturing technique providing the great potential of practical applications of T-PCEC.