Ceramic Fuel Cells

Europe needs clean ways to produce hydrogen and to turn it back into electricity on demand. Solid oxide cells do both. They are devices that convert energy using a ceramic electrolyte, a solid that lets ions pass through but blocks electrons. ATLAB develops ceramic cells that are cheaper, more durable and less dependent on scarce raw materials.

The same cell can work in two directions. As an electrolyser, it uses renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen, storing energy as fuel. As a fuel cell, it turns hydrogen or other fuels back into electricity and heat, without combustion. It can also convert water and carbon dioxide together into syngas, a raw material for synthetic fuels.

Solid oxide cells operate at about 600–850 °C, hot enough to make steel glow dull red. We also develop protonic ceramic cells, which carry protons (hydrogen nuclei) instead of oxygen ions and can run at lower temperatures, roughly 400–600 °C. We use ceramic 3D printing and thin films to create new cell designs with fewer critical raw materials. We test our cells under realistic conditions, including less pure fuels, pressure and temperature differences, together with industrial partners.

Our group has over 20 years of experience in this field, from new materials to the fabrication of cells and stacks for technology transfer.