From fragile interfaces to armored networks in protonic ceramic electrochemical cells

Abstract

In the July issue of Nature Energy, Liu and co-workers report a conformally coated scaffold (CCS) oxygen-electrode architecture that enables protonic ceramic electrochemical cells (PCECs) to operate stably for over 5,000 h at −1.5 A cm⁻² under 40% H₂O at 600°C. The CCS design, based on the water-tolerant, triple-conducting Ruddlesden-Popper oxide Pr_1.8Ba_0.2NiO₄₊δ (PBNO), mitigates electrolyte degradation and improves interfacial charge transfer, advancing PCEC durability and performance toward practical application.