Feasibility of alternative electrode materials for high temperature CO2 reduction on solid oxide electrolysis cell

The electrochemical performance of Ni-gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) cathode was studied for CO2 reduction on solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) at 1000 °C and compared with that of Ni-yttria stabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ) cathode. Ni-GDC cathode demonstrated higher performance for CO2 reduction. Furthermore, lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF) anode exhibited lower overpotential than lanthanum strontium manganite-yttria stabilized zirconia (LSM-YSZ) anode. Ni-GDC cathode and LSCF anode were found to be stable under a constant current density of −0.90 A cm−2 at 900 °C. Moreover, no substantial performance degradation was observed for the cell having Ni-GDC cathode and LSCF anode even after 9 h of electrolysis operation under a constant current density of −1.2 A cm−2 at 1000 °C.