Recent Development in Reversible Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: Theory, Integration and Prospective

Abstract

Abstract Reversible solid oxide fuel cell (RSOC) has gained widespread attention due to their potential for high efficiency in implementing multi‐energy distributed systems. When high power demand is required, RSOC can operate in the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) mode, directly converting the chemical energy from hydrogen or other renewable fuels into electricity. When excess electricity is available, RSOC can operate in the solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) mode, producing fuels through the electrolysis of water or co‐electrolysis of water and carbon dioxide. The reversible operation of RSOC enables the direct conversion between chemical energy and electricity, offering a promising solution for clean and sustainable energy with low cost and high round‐trip efficiency. This paper introduces the research background and working principles of RSOC, provides a detailed overview of the current research status of electrolyte, fuel electrode, and oxygen electrode materials, discusses the optimization design of RSOC stacks and energy utilization strategies in the system. In addition, the future development directions of RSOC were also explored, which is of significant importance for the commercialization of RSOC.

Keywords

• Fuel cell
• Electrolysis cell
• Electrode material
• Stack design
• System coupling