CX-100907 Proton-Conducting Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells for Large-scale Hydrogen Production at Intermediate Temperatures

Proton-Conducting Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells for Large-scale Hydrogen Production at Intermediate Temperatures
Award Number: DE-EE0008078
CX(s) Applied: A9, B3.6
Fuel Cells Technologies Office
Location(s): CT
Office(s): Golden Field Office

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to provide federal funding to University of Connecticut (UConn) to conduct a research program to develop innovative, cost effective, and efficient hydrogen-conducting solid oxide electrolysis cells (H-SOECs) for large-scale hydrogen production at temperatures between 600° and 800° Celsius. All project work would occur within existing laboratories at UConn in Storrs, Connecticut and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington.

UConn would develop hydrogen conducting electrolyte and ceramic materials that would be used to fabricate the H-SOECs. The fabrication process would then include screen-printing, tape casting, and reactive sintering methods. The fabricated H-SOECs would then be electrochemically tested under real-world operating conditions. UConn would send selected cell materials to PNNL for further testing and characterization. PNNL would also develop a computational simulation and modeling toolset for the design and operation of the H-SOECs.