Design of biomimetic leaf-like flow fields using three-dimensional numerical simulation for co-electrolysis in solid oxide electrolysis cell.

To enhance the performance of solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC), two biomimetic flow fields are designed based on the vein structures of ginkgo and clover leaves in this study. A three-dimensional SOEC model is developed to investigate the impacts of the flow fields on the electrochemical performance of SOEC. The results indicate that the SOEC with biomimetic leaf-like flow fields require lower voltage compared to the SOEC with conventional serpentine and parallel flow fields. Under the same simulation conditions, the voltage demand of the SOEC with the clover flow field was found to be 0.1154 V lower than that of the SOEC with the serpentine flow field. To better understand the reasons behind this improvement, the distribution of pressure, reaction gas, chemical reaction, overpotential, and temperature are analyzed. The findings demonstrate a significant improvement in temperature uniformity in the cell with the clover flow field, showing a 70.73% enhancement compared to the cell with the serpentine flow field. The utilization of these biomimetic flow fields has the potential to improve the performance and stability of SOEC operation. • Two biomimetic flow fields inspired by ginkgo and clover leaves are proposed. • A three-dimensional model is established to study the impacts of flow fields. • The voltage demand reduction can reach 0.115 V by using a bio-inspired flow field. • The uniformity of temperature increased by 70.73% in a bio-inspired flow field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]