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New CO2‐resistant dual‐phase Sm0.2Ce0.8O1.925–SrCo0.4Fe0.55Zr0.05O3‐δ (SDC‐SCFZ) ceramics present a promising outlook for potential future applications in membrane reactors and solid oxide fuel cells. Their high oxygen permeation flux and stability in CO2 sweep gas also allow their integration in oxyfuel combustion. Here the structural characteristics, electrical conductivities, thermal expansion behaviors, and oxygen permeabilities of four different SDC‐SCFZ membranes with weight ratios of 10:90, 25:75, 50:50, and 75:25 (SDC:SCFZ) are systematically studied. Among these four SDC‐SCFZ compositions, 0.6 mm‐thick 25 wt% SDC‐75 wt% SCFZ displayed the highest oxygen permeation fluxes that reach 1.26 mL min−1 cm−2 at 950°C and retained its phase integrity under alternating He and CO2 sweep gas over 72 hours of operation. This composite also showed a moderate thermal expansion coefficient of 1.90 × 10−5 K−1 between 30°C and 1000°C and an electrical conductivity of at least 16 S cm−1 at 550°C and above. Modeling studies revealed that the oxygen permeation fluxes through 25SDC‐75SCFZ are limited by surface exchange reactions from 700°C to 800°C and mixed bulk diffusion and surface exchange reactions above 800°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct carbon solid oxide fuel cell (DC‐SOFC) is a promising energy conversion system, which can directly convert the chemical energy of biomass into electrical energy with high efficiency and low pollution. Herein, a microtubular DC‐SOFC fueled with the biochar derived from pepper straw for electrical power generation is reported. The DC‐SOFC operated on pepper straw char gives a maximum power density of 217 mW cm−2, comparable with 252 mW cm−2 for that with hydrogen fuel at 850 °C. Moreover, the lifetime of the DC‐SOFC reaches 21 h at a discharge current of 100 mA with the fuel utilization of 44.4%. The pepper straw char is characterized physically by scanning electron microscopy, energy‐dispersive spectrometer, X‐ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. The results demonstrate that the pepper straw char contains natural catalysts in itself and their contribution on the electrochemical performance of the microtubular DC‐SOFC is analyzed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Possessing a high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity is one of the most important prerequisites for the cathode to ensure an efficient solid oxide fuel cell. Herein, a highly active cathode is developed by doping the fluorine anion in anion sites of perovskite oxides (ABO 3 ). The electrocatalytic activities of three different cathode samples including the original perovskite La 0.6 Sr 0.4 Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 O 3-δ (LSCF), the doped La 0.6 Sr 0.4 Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 O 2.95-δ F 0.05 (LSCFF0.05) and La 0.6 Sr 0.4 Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 O 2.9-δ F 0.1 (LSCFF0.1) are comparatively investigated. The fluorine doped perovskites reveal higher electrochemical performance than the original perovskite. Based on three cathodes of LSCF, LSCFF0.05 and LSCFF0.1 operated at 850 °C, the measured area specific resistance was 0.018, 0.017 and 0.91 Ω cm 2 , respectively; and the respective maximum power density of the single fuel cell using the 9-μm-thick YSZ electrolyte was 754, 1005, and 737 mW cm −2 . Such performance results vividly indicate that, the obtained perovskite oxyfluoride by doping an optimum amount of F ions can efficiently improve ORR activity and thus is a feasible strategy to develop cathode for high-performance solid oxide fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the performance of solid oxide cells as fuel cells (SOFCs) for power production and also as electrolysis cells (SOECs) for hydrogen production. In order to deliver this dual mode flexible operation system, a novel perovskite oxide based on Ga 3+ doped SrCo 0.8 Fe 0.1 Ga 0.1 O 3−δ (SCFG) is synthesized via a sol–gel method. Its performance for oxygen electrode catalyst was then evaluated. Single solid oxide cell in the configuration of Ni-YSZ|YSZ|GDC|SCFG is assembled and tested in SOFC or SOEC modes from 550 to 850 °C with hydrogen as the fuel or as the product, respectively. GDC is used to avoid the reaction between the electrolyte YSZ and the cobalt-based electrode. Under SOFC mode, a maximum power density of 1044 mW cm −2 is obtained at 750 °C. Further, the cell delivers a stable power output of 650 mW cm −2 up to 125 h at 0.7 V. In the electrolysis mode, when the applied voltage is controlled at 2 V, the electrolysis current density reaches 3.33 A cm −2 at 850 °C with the hydrogen production rate up to 22.9 mL min −1 cm −2 (STP). These results reveal that SCFG is a very promising oxygen electrode material for application in both SOFC and SOEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A NiO-YSZ/porous YSZ dual-layer hollow fiber with an asymmetric structure was fabricated by a co-spinning-sintering method. A dense YSZ electrolyte film was prepared on NiO-YSZ layer by dip-coating method and calcined at 1450 °C; subsequently a porous cathode was dip-coated on the dense YSZ electrolyte film using LSM-YSZ (in the weight ratio 4:1) ink to fabricate a micro tubular solid oxide fuel cell (MT-SOFC). Cu–CeO2 catalyst was impregnated into the porous YSZ layer to form the second anode composition. The power output of the MT-SOFC with Ni-YSZ/Cu–CeO2-YSZ graded anode was up to 242 mW cm−2 operated at 850 °C using CH4 as fuel and air as oxidant. Little carbon deposition was observed on the double anode using methane as the fuel after 60 h' stable operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: NiO–YSZ/porous YSZ (NiO–YSZ/p-YSZ) dual-layer hollow fibers have been fabricated by a co-spinning-sintering method, on which a dense YSZ films has been formed by a dip-coating and sintering process. A LSM–YSZ ink has been dip-coated on the dense YSZ films as cathode, while the Cu–CeO2 carbon-resistant catalyst has been impregnated in the p-YSZ layer to form double-anode supported micro tubular fuel cells (MT-SOFCs). The thickness of the Ni-YSZ layer, so called anode functional layer (AFL), is controlled from 74 μm to 13 μm by varying the spinning rates of the NiO–YSZ dopes. The maximum power density of an MT-SOFC, which is fabricated based on a thin co-spun AFL, reaches 566 mW cm−2 operated at 850 °C fed with dry methane, and is stably operated for 85 h without power declination. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Y2O3-stabilized-ZrO2(YSZ)/La0.8Sr0.2MnO3-α(LSM)–YSZ dual-layer hollow fibers have been fabricated for micro-tubular solid oxide fuel cells (MT-SOFCs) using a co-spinning/co-sintering technique. The hollow fibers consist of a dense YSZ top layer supported on the porous LSM–YSZ substrate with an asymmetric structure. The electrolyte and the cathode layers are perfectly adhered to each other without observable elemental inter-diffusion. Both the mechanical strength of the hollow fibers and the compactness of the electrolyte layer are improved by increasing the sintering temperature, whereas the effective porosity of the cathode layer also decreases. The suitable sintering temperature of the YSZ/LSM–YSZ dual-layer hollow fibers to construct the electrolyte/cathode half-cells should be controlled between 1350 °C and 1400 °C. An Ni-YSZ layer of about 5 μm in thickness is dip-coated on the outer surface of the hollow fibers to serve as the anode of fuel cells. The resultant micro-tubular SOFCs yield a maximum power density of 290 mW cm− 2 at 850 °C using 1.49 × 10−5 mol s−1 hydrogen as fuel and 2.23 × 10−5 mol s−1 air as oxidant, respectively. The output performance of the micro-tubular fuel cells is mainly limited by the high polarization resistance of the cathode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

YSZ/NiO-YSZ dual-layer hollow fibers with a thin YSZ top layer integrated on a porous NiO-YSZ (60:40 in weight) support, have been developed by one step method via a co-spinning-sintering process. Hydrogen reduction was performed to form YSZ/Ni-YSZ micro tube as the half solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The microstructure of the dual-layer hollow fibers was tailored by adding ethanol as non-solvent in the initial mixture dopes for NiO-YSZ anode spinning. LSM cathode containing 20 wt%-YSZ was deposited on the electrolyte surface by dip-coating method to fabricate micro-tubular SOFCs. Experimental results indicate that the dual-layer hollow fibers from the anode dopes containing 15–20 wt% of ethanol possess the desired microstructure with optimized properties, such as the bending strength of 180 MPa, the porosity of 38–35% and the conductivity of 3000 S cm −1 at room temperature. The micro-tubular SOFCs fabricated from such hollow fibers show a maximum power density up to 485 mW cm −2 at 850 °C with 20 mL min −1 of H 2 as fuel and 30 mL min −1 air as oxidant, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel proton conductor, BaCe0.95Tb0.05O3 −a (BCTb) perovskite was synthesized via the EDTA-citrate acid complexing method, followed by high temperature calcination. The properties of the powders were characterized by thermo gravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the conductivity measurement using the 4-probe method. In order to obtain the pure perovskite structure, the calcination temperature was elevated at 1000 °C or greater. The electrical conductivities of the BCTb perovskite mainly result from protons and are 6.51 × 10−3−2.0 × 10−2 S cm−1 in the temperature range of 600–850 °C with the activation energy of 41.95 kJ mol−1. A Ni-BCTb∣BCTb∣LSCF(La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-α)-BCTb fuel cell was subsequently fabricated via a co-pressing/co-sintering method, followed by slurry-coating of the cathode. With 50 mL min−1 pure hydrogen as fuel and the ambient air as oxidant, the maximum output of the fuel cell has reached to 753 mW cm−2 at 700 °C. The results demonstrate that BCTb perovskite may be a promising electrolyte for the proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (PC-SOFCs) after its chemical stability is improved significantly. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A highly stable perovskite cathode material, Ba0.5Sr0.5(Co0.6Zr0.2)Fe0.2O3−δ (BSCZF) for intermediate temperature solid-oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs) was synthesized via the improved EDTA–citric acid complexing technique combined with high-temperature sintering. The product was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) measurements. An electrolyte-supported BSCZF/SDC/Ni-SDC fuel cell was fabricated to evaluate the performance of the material. The XRD study indicates that the sintering temperature higher than 950°C is sufficient to the formation of clean single BSCZF perovskite phase. Due to the incorporation of Zr ions, BSCZF perovskite exhibit lower electrical conductivity with higher activation energy but higher structural stability than the Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3−δ (BSCF) parent oxide. The maximum electrical conductivity of BSCZF attains 16.9Scm−1 at around 540°C. Impedance spectra showed that the ASRs of BSCZF cathode on samaria doped ceria (Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9, SDC) electrolyte are low but are still slightly larger than those of BSCF at similar conditions. The BSCZF/SDC/Ni-SDC cell exhibited a stable output with the maximum power densities of 30, 75, 139 and 241mWcm−2 at 550, 600, 650 and 700°C, respectively. Due to the high electrochemical performances as well as the excellent stability, BSCZF perovskite may be an attractive cathode material for IT-SOFCs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

3D printing presents a revolutionary solution in overcoming traditional challenges of the fabrication of the integrated solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack. The complete preparation process of intact monolithic porous inert support using stereolithography apparatus (SLA)-based 3D printing technology is developed for the first time, including the formulation of the photocurable slurry and the procedure of the heat treatment process. The integrated three-cell SOFC stack supported by this 3D-printed monolithic porous inert support shows a maximum power density of 683 mW·cm-2 at 800 oC. The high output performance obtained shows the success of applying SLA-based 3D printing to fabricate integrated SOFC stack in a simple way. The complete developed process reported here provides a basis to achieve more rapid, automated, large-scale fabrication of 3D-printed porous ceramic support and integrated SOFC stack. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of direct carbon solid oxide fuel cells (DC‐SOFCs) is limited by the slow carbon gasification kinetics at operating temperatures. To address this limitation, a carbon fuel loaded with Ba catalyst is developed for DC‐SOFCs to improve the electrochemical performance in this study. Ba is loaded on activated carbon in the form of BaCO3 by the wet agglomeration technique. The effect of the Ba catalyst with various contents on the electrochemical performance in single cells and fuel utilization of DC‐SOFCs are examined. Experimental results show that the optimized Ba content is 5 wt% and the DC‐SOFC with this Ba‐loaded activated carbon fuel gives the best output with a maximum power density of 328.4 mW cm−2 at 850 °C. Furthermore, the DC‐SOFC fueled by 5 wt% Ba‐loaded activated carbon operates steadily for 28.76 h with the fuel utilization of 16.0%, which is also superior to many other cells. The enhancement of cell performance suggests that Ba is an effective catalyst to the Boudouard reaction, and the catalytic mechanism is also discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D printing has revolutionized solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) by introducing complicated structure and new functionalities that cannot be realized using traditional preparation process. This work provides guide and insights into the application of direct-writing 3D printing to fabricate the patterned electrolyte|electrode interface for the anode-supported SOFC using 3 mol % yttria-stabilized zirconia-nickel oxide (3YSZ-NiO) as the anode substrate material. The parameters that affected the shaping and performance of SOFC including the rheological properties of 3YSZ-NiO anode paste, the printing parameters, and the heat treatment process of the pre-sintered anode substrate were evaluated. The prepared 3YSZ-NiO paste exhibited a typical shear-thinning characteristic, "yielding" solid-like behavior, and time- and temperature-independent stability performance, which ensured the paste suitable for extrusion while allowing the shape of the printed body to be maintained after extrusion during the direct-writing printing process. The as-prepared anode paste, combined with the obtained values of 0.1 MPa, 100 mm s−1, 100 rpm, and 0.3 mm for printing parameters of the extrusion pressure, the printing speed, the screw speed, and the nozzle diameter, respectively, as well as the devised heat treatment program for the pre-sintered 3YSZ-NiO anode substrate, successfully produced defect-free corrugated anode substrates. The cell made from the as-mentioned anode substrate showed an open circuit voltage of 1.02 V and a maximum power density of 619.44 mW cm−2 at 850 °C, which was comparable to the other identical cells fabricated by traditional and other 3D printing processes. Using the 3D printing process shown here, the preparation time of patterned anode substrate can be reduced and simplified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital light processing (DLP)-stereolithography three-dimensional (3D) printing is a well known technique for fabricating components with complex geometries. However, the application of DLP 3D printing to functional ceramics such as 8 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ), which is one of the most extensively used electrolyte materials for solid oxide fuel cells, is still a great challenge. Therefore, the fabrication of fully 8YSZ monoliths via DLP 3D printing was attempted herein, including the preparation of UV-curable ceramic suspensions, shaping of green bodies, and debinding and sintering. The results show that intact green bodies printed using a 30 vol% 8YSZ-photosensitive resin suspension with 0.1 wt% oleic acid as the dispersant under the optimized printing conditions was sufficiently dense without connected pores after vacuum debinding and sintering in air. The successful fabrication of 8YSZ monoliths with design flexibility via 3D printing provides a simple method for preparing functional ceramic components and may expand the application of 3D printing technology to the energy field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct carbon solid oxide fuel cell (DC-SOFC) is one of the most attractive thesises for clean and efficient utilization of solid carbon to produce electricity. According to the operating principle, DC-SOFC performance is closely associated with the carbon sources and catalysts of the reverse Boudouard reaction. Here, we report a high-performance DC-SOFC powered by the biochar derived from sunflower seed shell (SSS) with barium-based catalyst loaded. The physicochemical properties of the SSS biochar are characterized and analyzed detailly. The electrolyte-supported symmetrical SOFC fueled with the SSS biochar gives an output of 216 mW cm−2 at 850 °C, indicating a great potential of the SSS biochar for DC-SOFCs. More importantly, the best output of 265 mW cm−2 and open circuit voltage of 1.03 V are obtained from DC-SOFC operated on 5 wt% barium-loaded SSS biochar, which is comparable to the output of 273 mW cm−2 from the hydrogen-fueled SOFC at 850 °C with the identical configuration. The superiorities of the SSS biochar and barium-based catalyst are also reflected in the operation stability and fuel utilization of DC-SOFCs. The discharge platforms are stable and the longest lifetime is up to 28.0 h under 50 mA with the fuel utilization of 31.3%, which is very excellent and competitive. This work provides a new idea for the effective utilization of the SSS biochar and other biomass for DC-SOFCs. • SSS biochar is first introduced in DC-SOFCs to improve electrochemical performance. • There are many superior metallic catalysts for carbon gasification in SSS biochar. • DC-SOFC output is improved from 216 to 265 mW cm−2 by loading Ba-based catalyst. • DC-SOFC fueled by Ba-loaded SSS biochar is comparable to the hydrogen-fueled SOFC. • Ba-loaded SSS biochar-fueled DC-SOFC operated for 28.0 h with fuel utilization of 31.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yttria (8 mol%) stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) photocurable slurry is the basis for stereolithography-based 3D (SLA) printed structured electrolyte support for monolithic solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack. The curing resin with trifunctional trimethylolpropane triacrylate and 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate (TMPTA/HDDA) mass ratio of 1.5:8.5 and 1 wt% of photoinitiator provided excellent curing performance and low viscosity of 2.1 mPa·s. Stable 8YSZ photocurable slurry possessing high solid content of 43 vol% and low viscosity of 3.6 Pa·s at 30 s−1 shear rate were obtained, without particle sedimentation after 180-day stability test. The activation energy of 8YSZ fabricated by 3D printing method was 0.87 eV, similar to that by dry-pressing method. The 3D printed monolithic 3-tube SOFC stack exhibited a peak power density of 230 mW·cm−2 at 850 °C. This research proves the great potential of 3D printing technology to prepare monolithic SOFC stack, paving the way to develop SOFCs for practical applications. • Give a new way to prepare monolithic SOFC stack with good performance. • Obtain dense electrolyte supports for micro tubular monolithic SOFC stack. • Provide a high solid loading 8YSZ photocuring slurry with low viscosity for SOFC. • Develop a photocuring resin with enough cure depth and low viscosity for 3D printing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell preparation techniques and design parameters have significant impacts on the electrochemical performance of direct carbon solid oxide fuel cells (DC-SOFCs). In this work, a finger-like nickel-based anode/electrolyte has been successfully fabricated in a single step via the tape-casting combined phase-inversion and co-sintering technique, which simplified the preparation process and reduced the fabrication cost. The finger-like anode/electrolyte exhibited identical microstructure and exceptional adhesion, ensuring the absence of any cracks during the co-sintering process. As a result, the corresponding single cell delivered a very competitive output of 436 mW cm−2 at 850 °C using activated carbon as fuel. Moreover, it operated stably for 20.1 h under 100 mA with a high fuel utilization of 22.5% at 850 °C. Model verification was also performed by comparative analysis of the effects of the finger-like pore length, anode thickness, cathode thickness, and electrolyte thickness on the cell performance using numerical simulation, which generated the resultant two-dimensional distributions of CO molar concentration, current density, O 2 molar concentration, and temperature as well as the power output of the cell. Simulation results verified the experimental findings that DC-SOFC performance was enhanced with increases in the finger-like pore length and cathode thickness, and with decreases in the anode and electrolyte thicknesses. This work provides valuable insights into further optimizing the cell design and manufacturing process, paving the way for the development of high-performance DC-SOFCs. [Display omitted] • Finger-like nickel-based anode/electrolyte is well prepared in a single step. • Impressive power output of 436 mW cm−2 is obtained from the DC-SOFC at 850 °C. • DC-SOFC operates stably for 20.1 h at 100 mA with fuel utilization of 22.5% at 850 °C. • Multi-physical field model is used to evaluate cell design parameters of DC-SOFCs. • Mathematical models of various DC-SOFCs are developed to optimize cell performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Three-dimensional (3D) printing technique represents a revolutionary advancement in the manufacturing sector due to its unique capabilities to process the shape complexity. This work is focusing on dense 8 mol.% yttria-stabilized-zirconia (8YSZ) electrolyte fabrication via digital light processing (DLP)-stereolithography-based 3D printing technique. Multiple 8YSZ electrolyte green bodies are printed simultaneously in a batch using ceramic-resin suspension made of 30 vol% 8YSZ powder loading in a photo-curable resin. Together with an optimized debinding and sintering procedure, the 8YSZ green body changes into a dense electrolyte, and the density of the sintered electrolyte was measured as 99.96% by Archimedes' water displacement method. The symmetric cell fabricated of silver-Ce 0.8 Gd 0.2 O 1.9 (Ag-GDC) as cathode/anode and dense 8YSZ electrolyte printed by DLP-stereolithography delivers a high open circuit voltage of approximately 1.04 V and a peak power density up to 176 mW·cm−2 at 850 °C by using hydrogen as the fuel and air as the oxidant. The electrochemical performance of the symmetric cell Ag-GDC|YSZ|Ag-GDC with 8YSZ electrolyte fabricated via DLP-stereolithography is comparable to that of the same cell with 8YSZ electrolyte fabricated by conventional dry pressing method. This 3D printing technique provides a novel method to prepare dense electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with good performance, suggesting a potential application for one-step fabrication of complex structure SOFC stack. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Give a new way to fabricate multiple electrolytes for SOFC in a batch. • Develop a facile technology for one-step fabrication of complex-shaped SOFC stack. • Obtain a new technique for YSZ fabrication by DLP 3D printing. • Power density of cells by 3D printing comparable to that by conventional method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • ORS biochar is first introduced in DC-SOFCs to improve electrochemical performance. • Effect of ORS biochar properties on DC-SOFC performance is investigated detailedly. • DC-SOFC fueled by the ORS biochar is comparable to the hydrogen-fueled SOFC. • Multi-physical field modeling is applied to evaluate the mechanism of MT-DC-SOFC. • Mathematical model of MT-DC-SOFC system is developed to optimize cell performance. Direct carbon solid oxide fuel cells (DC-SOFCs) can directly utilize solid carbon to generate electricity. However, the fuel cells' carbon fuel sources and configuration may significantly affect their electrochemical performance. In this work, we systematically investigate the electrochemical performance of the micro-tubular DC-SOFC (MT-DC-SOFC) using the oilseed rape straw (ORS)-derived biochar by experimental and simulation numerical studies. For the first time, the ORS biochar is introduced in DC-SOFCs to improve electrochemical performance. As expected, the single cell delivers the best output of 222 mW cm−2 at 850 °C, which is comparable to that of hydrogen-fueled SOFC. Besides, the MT-DC-SOFC exhibits a long operating lifetime of 11.9 h under a 100 mA constant current with the fuel utilization of 23.8% at 850 °C, verifying that the ORS biochar is an excellent carbon fuel for DC-SOFCs. Moreover, multi-physical field modeling is applied to evaluate the mechanism of the MT-DC-SOFC. The simulation results verify the experimental findings that the cell performance is significantly affected by the electrolyte with finger-like pores, carbon fuel location and area, and electrode thickness. This work presents a novel green strategy for developing high-performance MT-DC-SOFCs that can efficiently utilize the ORS biochar and other biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • SLA 3D printing technology tailored the electrolyte interface to improve the cell performance. • Multi-physical field modeling was applied to explore the mechanism of the concavo-convex cell to increase the cell performance. • Mathematical model of the cell performance and parameters caused by the electrolyte structure was developed. • Structure design of electrolyte surface enhances the SOFC performance by both effective contact area and ion transfer path length. • Concavo-convex cell showed superior performance than planar cell. Patterned electrolyte surfaces are considered an effective strategy to enhance the cell performance of solid oxide fuel cells by increasing the contact area between the electrode and electrolyte, and subsequently reducing the area specific resistance. In this study, the patterning of an 8 mol% yttria stabilised zirconia (8YSZ) electrolyte surface tailored using the stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing technology and the effects of the electrolyte surface geometry on the cell performance were investigated using multi-physical field simulation and quantitative analysis. Defect-free densified planar and concavo–convex electrolytes were successfully prepared by applying SLA, and the concavo–convex cell yielded a maximum output power density of 288.9 mW cm−2 at 850 °C, which was 46.2 % higher than that of the planar cell. The simulation results revealed significant consumption of reactants and strong electrochemical reactions at the concave surface. Moreover, the hydrogen and oxygen consumptions at the edges were greater than those at the centre of both the concave and convex surfaces, whereas the edges of the concavo–convex structure were more conducive to the electrochemical reaction. Finally, the quantitative correlation between cell performance and the influencing factors was obtained by conducting stepwise linear regression analysis. Reducing the ion transfer path length and providing a sufficiently large effective contact area proved to be a productive strategy for improving cell output performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]