Despite recent substantial progress in reversible protonic ceramic cells (RPCCs) it remains essential to further develop oxygen electrode materials that show superior activity and stability for oxygen reduction and evolution...

A reliable and high performance proton-conducting reversible solid oxide cell (P-RSOCs) is developed to generate electricity in a protonic ceramic fuel cell (PCFC) mode and to generate hydrogen gas in a protonic ceramic electrolysis (PCEC) mode in a single electrochemical device. Herein we propose a modified triple conducting (H + /O 2− /e − ) steam (air) electrode through the infiltration of an Sm 0.2 Ce 0.8 O 2-δ (SDC) oxygen-ionic conductor, because the polarization resistance (R p ) of P-RSOCs mainly comes from the steam (air) electrode in both the operational modes. The SDC-infiltrated nanoparticles on the composite BaCo 0.4 Zr 0.1 Fe 0.4 Y 0.1 O 3+δ (BCZFY)-BaCe 0.7 Zr 0.1 Y 0.2-x Yb x O 3-δ (BCZYYb) electrode result in a considerable improvement in the oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution reaction catalytic activity at 600-700°C due to the extension of electrochemical active sites with the increasing of surface area. In addition, the enhanced ionic conduction of a triple conducting composite using infiltrated oxygen-ionic SDC conductors leads to an effective decrease in the R p (1.388→1.079 Ω•cm 2 at 600°C symmetric cell) with improved cell performance in both the PCFC and PCEC modes. Furthermore, the NiO-BCZYYb anode-supported cell with the SDC-infiltrated composite BCZFY-BCZYYb air electrode shows excellent durability in the PCFC and PCEC modes without any degradation during 250 h each at 650°C.

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To develop reliable and durable protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs), the impacts of the operation protocols of PCFCs on the cell durability are investigated through analyses of the main degradation mechanisms. We herein propose three appropriately designed control protocols, including cathode air depletion, shunt current, and fuel cell/electrolysis cycling, to fully circumvent the operating-induced degradation of PCFCs. For this purpose, anode-supported cells, comprised of a NiO− BaCe 0.