As global energy demands grow—especially with the rapid expansion of AI technology—scientists are looking for cleaner, more efficient power sources.
One promising option is the protonic ceramic electrochemical cell, or PCEC, a device that can generate both electricity and hydrogen at the same time.
But until now, manufacturing these cells required extremely high temperatures of around 1,500°C, making them difficult and expensive to produce.
A research team at KAIST has now achieved a major breakthrough by developing a new manufacturing method that lowers the production temperature by more than 500°C.
Their approach allows high-performance ceramic electrochemical cells to be fabricated at just 980°C, marking the first time such a dramatic reduction has been possible.
The results were published in Advanced Materials.
The biggest challenge has been the cell’s electrolyte, a ceramic material containing barium. At very high temperatures, barium tends to evaporate, which damages the material and reduces the cell’s efficiency.
Finding a way to harden the ceramic electrolyte at much lower temperatures has been the key to improving PCEC performance.
To solve this problem, Professor Kang Taek Lee’s team developed a technique called vapor-phase diffusion combined with microwave heating.
They placed a special “vapor source” material next to the cell and heated it using microwaves.
As the temperature climbed to about 800°C, vapor from this auxiliary material spread into the electrolyte layer. The vapor triggered a chemical reaction that caused the ceramic particles to bond tightly together—achieving in minutes what used to require extreme heat above 1,500°C.
The result is a world-first manufacturing process that strengthens the ceramic electrolyte without overheating or damaging it. This breakthrough not only improves production efficiency but also significantly enhances the final cell’s performance.
A cell produced using this new method delivered impressive results.
At an operating temperature of 600°C, a single 1-cm² cell generated 2 watts of power—twice the performance of many previous technologies—and produced 205 milliliters of hydrogen per hour, roughly the amount that fits in a small paper cup.
The cell also demonstrated excellent durability, running continuously for 500 hours without any drop in performance.
These improvements—lower production temperatures, lower operating temperatures, higher power output, and extended life—position the new process as one of the most advanced technologies in the ceramic electrochemical field.
The research team also used digital twin simulations to study how gas moves through the tiny internal structures of the cell, helping verify the technology’s stability and reliability.
Professor Lee described the breakthrough as a key step toward meeting the growing energy demands of the AI age. He believes this manufacturing method could speed the transition to a hydrogen-based energy system by making efficient ceramic cells easier and cheaper to produce.
The study’s co–first authors were Dongyeon Kim, a KAIST Ph.D. graduate, and Yejin Kang, a Ph.D. candidate at KAIST.
Source: KSR.
