Electrochemical performance of H2O–CO2 coelectrolysis with a tubular solid oxide coelectrolysis (SOC) cell

• A tubular solid oxide coelectrolysis (SOC) cell was fabricated.
• The effects of operational variables on the electrochemical performance of H2O–CO2 coelectrolysis were analyzed.
• This tubular SOC cell system is expected to provide an efficient way of reducing CO2 emissions and storing renewable power.

The H2O–CO2 electrochemical conversion process in solid oxide coelectrolysis (SOC) cells is potentially an efficient way to reduce CO2 emissions and to store renewable power simultaneously. In this study, a tubular solid oxide coelectrolysis (SOC) cell based on a general electrode support solid oxide fuel cell was fabricated and investigated. We fabricated tubular electrode support tubes through an extrusion process, and the essential SOC cell components, i.e., the electrolyte and the electrode, were then coated onto the surface of a ceramic support consecutively using a vacuum slurry and dip-coating method. The cell was operated while varying the operating temperature, cathode gas flow rate, and the supplied amount of H2O. The results demonstrate that the fabricated tubular SOC cell is a promising candidate for many practical applications, such as technology to mitigate climate change and power fluctuations associated with renewable energy.