A new design of finger-like electrode supported protonic ceramic electrochemical hydrogen pump with sandwich structure for hydrogen purification

Protonic ceramic electrochemical hydrogen pump (PCEHP) is regarded as a "next generation" technology for high pure hydrogen separation due to its advantages of high hydrogen selectivity, high efficiency, and low cost. However, the pore structure of the support prepared by traditional tape-casting exhibits large polarization resistance to gas diffusion. In this work, the symmetrical sandwich structure of PCEHP with Ni-BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.1Yb0.1O3-delta (BZCYYb) finger-like pore support | BZCYYb electrolyte | Ni-BZCYYb finger-like pore support is fabricated by phase inversion tape-casting, laminated hot-pressing, and co-sintering process techniques. The PCEHP achieves 13.88 mL cm(-2) min(-1) of hydrogen flux under 0.6 V at 700 (7.25 mL cm(-2) min(-1) under 0.3 V at 700 degree celsius), demonstrating a better gas diffusion. Moreover, it shows good stability in the electrolysis mode for 100 h and thermal cycling mode for over 70 h. The results suggest that finger-like pore supported PCEHP has a great potential for hydrogen purification.