Key technology and industrialization progress of hydrogen production by solid oxide electrolytic cell

As the dual carbon goals and the energy revolution continue to advance, hydrogen energy has received widespread attention as an important clean energy source. Among the various hydrogen production pathways, electrolysis of water into hydrogen by solid oxide electrolytic cell (SOEC) is considered as one of the most promising pathways. In order to better serve the industrialization of SOEC, the current research status and challenges of SOEC need to be sorted out systematically. In this paper, the composition and basic principles of SOEC are introduced firstly. Then, the existing systems and bottlenecks of key materials are summarized based on domestic and international research. Meanwhile, the current research status and development direction of the stack and system are analyzed. Finally, the industrialization process are sorted out. Although electrolysis of water by SOEC has the advantages of high hydrogen production efficiency, low environmental pollution and efficient utilization of waste heat, there are still many difficulties in long-term stable operation and large-scale integration. And a certain gap exists in the industrialization of SOEC in China compared to foreign countries. Improving the stability of materials and optimizing control strategy are the key development directions of SOEC. In addition, accelerating the industrialization process of SOEC also needs to cooperate with the development of upstream and downstream industrial to reduce production costs. With the maturity of technology, electrolysis of water by SOEC is expected to be widely used in chemical industry, distributed energy resources and other fields. © 2023 Materials China. All rights reserved.