"Carbon Recycling with Electricity"... KRICT Breaks SOEC Durability Limits [Reading Science]

Electrolyte Interface Delamination at High Temperatures Solved...
CO₂ Processing Performance Improved by 3.6 Times

Aviation Fuel and Plastic Feedstock Production Expected...
Commercialization of Industrial Carbon Resource Conversion Nears

Next-generation carbon resource conversion technology, which decomposes carbon dioxide (CO₂) with electricity and converts it into aviation fuel and plastic feedstock, has taken another step closer to commercialization.

The Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) announced on May 24 that a research team led by Dr. Mincheol Kim, Dr. Jihoon Park, and Dr. Jinhui Lee has solved the thermal durability issue—previously considered the greatest challenge for nickel-based solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs)—and developed a manufacturing technology that efficiently converts CO₂ into carbon monoxide (CO).

Schematic diagram of the electrochemical reduction process of carbon dioxide using solid oxide electrolysis cells. Provided by the research team.

SOEC is a device that converts CO₂ into CO using electricity. The CO produced can be combined with hydrogen to generate syngas, which serves as a key feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), methanol, plastics, and industrial chemical materials. This technology is attracting attention as a leading example of carbon recycling, where emitted carbon is reused as an industrial feedstock.

The biggest challenge with conventional SOECs has been interfacial delamination of the electrolyte during high-temperature operation. Recently, high-performance SOECs have been using both yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), an oxygen ion conductor, and gadolinium-doped ceria (GDC). However, the difference in thermal expansion rates between these two materials causes repeated contraction and expansion, resulting in cracks between the layers. This has been cited as a main cause of performance degradation and shortened lifespan during long-term operation.

Schematic diagram comparing enhanced interfacial stability and conversion efficiency differences due to the interface-controlled composite electrolyte layer versus a conventional structure. Provided by the research team

The research team addressed this issue by inserting a composite interlayer between the two electrolytes. This "buffer cushion layer" absorbs thermal deformation differences between the disparate materials. Notably, instead of expensive deposition equipment, the team employed a dip-coating process—immersing and withdrawing the material in a solution—making large-area manufacturing feasible.

The performance improvement was significant. The current density, representing the CO₂ processing rate per unit area, increased approximately 3.6-fold from the previous 0.59 A/cm² to 2.14 A/cm². The research team stated, "This is the world's best CO₂ processing performance among nickel-based SOECs."

The Faradaic efficiency, which indicates the proportion of electricity actually used for the CO₂ conversion reaction, was also maintained at a high level. The developed SOEC demonstrated high durability by retaining 91% of its initial performance after 80 hours of continuous operation under a high load of 1.6V.

Research team at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology. From left to right: Jihoon Park, Jinhui Lee, Rustam Yuldashev (student researcher at KIST-UST), Mincheol Kim, Jongmin Kwak, Wonbin Nam (post-master's researcher). Provided by Korea Institute of Science and Technology

The research team has currently verified performance with coin-sized small cells and is working on expanding the application to flat, smartphone-sized cells. Once the technology for manufacturing large-scale stacks and integrating with renewable energy is secured, it is expected that this will be extended to industrial-scale CO₂ resource conversion facilities.

Shin Seokmin, President of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, said, "This achievement simultaneously solves the durability issue that has hindered both the efficiency and commercialization of CO₂ conversion in solid oxide electrolysis cells."

The results of this research were published as a back-cover article in the March 2026 issue of the international journal Advanced Science. Rustam Yuldashev, a student researcher at KRICT and the University of Science and Technology (UST), participated as the first author. This study was carried out under KRICT’s core project and was supported by the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute under the Ministry of Environment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.