*Marit Stange¹, Elena Stefan¹, Amir Masoud Dayaghi², Christelle Denonville¹, Yngve Larring¹, Per Martin Rørvik¹, Reidar Haugsrud², Truls Norby^2
1SINTEF, Oslo, Norway; ²University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
High temperature electrolysers are considered a key technology for the future. Here, an innovative concept of metal supported cells with proton conducting ceramics operated in steam electrolysis mode, working at moderate temperatures (400-600°C) is presented. Replacing the thick porous ceramic substrate by inexpensive porous metal (MS) will increase the robustness of the cell, while reducing the amount of critical raw materials. The proton conducting electrolytes such as Y-doped BaZrO₃ allow lowering the working temperature compared to oxygen ion conducting electrolytes. Moreover, proton-conducting cells avoids steam corrosion of the MS since pure dry H₂ is produced at the MS side. Since the MS can only withstand temperatures up to ~1300°C without partly densification and/or melting, traditional powder-based synthesis at temperatures ≥ 1500 °C is excluded. Here, we present manufacturing and testing of single metal-supported proton-conducting electrolysis cells with a gas-tight, thin-film electrolyte (2 mm) made by pulsed laser deposition. Influence of deposition parameters and microstructure of underlaying layer on the film morphology are investigated. The cell with Pt air electrode shows acceptable open circuit voltage and low overpotentials at 600°C, demonstrating the opportunities of developing working metal-supported cells.