Solid oxide electrochemical cell (SOC) technology, such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) for distributed power generation and solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) for hydrogen production, increasingly attracts interest from the research community due to its advantages of efficient direct conversion of energy and environmentally benign operation. The conventional SOCs using oxygen-ion conducting electrolytes suffer from many challenges associated with high operating temperature (typically above 750°C), which not only results in fast degradation but also problems, such as expensive refractory materials in the system components, less competitive cost, slow start-up, and burden on thermal insulation.
Thin solid oxide films are crucial for developing highperformance solid oxide-based electrochemical devices aimed at decarbonizing the global energy system. Among various methods, ultrasonic spray coating (USC) can provide the throughput, scalability, quality consistency, roll-to-roll compatibility, and low material waste necessary for scalable production of largesized solid oxide electrochemical cells. However, due to the large number of USC parameters, systematic parameter optimization is required to ensure optimal settings. However, the optimizations in previous literature are either not discussed or not systematic, facile, and practical for scalable production of thin oxide films. In this regard, we propose an USC optimization process assisted with mathematical models. Using this method, we obtained optimal settings for producing high-quality, uniform 4 × 4 cm 2 oxygen electrode films with a consistent thickness of ∼27 μm in 1 min in a facile and systematic way. The quality of the films is evaluated at both micrometer and centimeter scales and meets desirable thickness and uniformity criteria. To validate the performance of USC-fabricated electrolytes and oxygen electrodes, we employ protonic ceramic electrochemical cells, which achieve a peak power density of 0.88 W cm −2 in the fuel cell mode and a current density of 1.36 A cm −2 at 1.3 V in the electrolysis mode, with minimal degradation over a period of 200 h. These results demonstrate the potential of USC as a promising technology for scalable production of large-sized solid oxide electrochemical cells.
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