Nacre-like cermet-metal composite architectures for biomimetic, fracture-resistant electrode design in solid oxide fuel cells

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have attracted considerable attention due to their high energy conversion efficiency and fuel flexibility. However, limited durability remains a key challenge for industrial applications particularly the unpredictable mechanical damage occurring during high-temperature operation. In this work, a nacre-like cermet-metal composite architecture is proposed, in which a porous Ni layer (PNL) is introduced between adjacent Ni-YSZ layers to enhance the mechanical properties of anode support layer (ASL) without affecting electrochemical performance. Two types of architectures are evaluated and compared with the conventional lamination design through in-situ high-temperature mechanical tests. The three-dimensional microstructure, reconstructed using the Focused Ion Beam-Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB-SEM) technique, is used to quantify microstructural parameters and obtain homogenized mechanical properties, which are further employed in a phase-field model to investigate the mechanical behavior of ASLs and the electrochemical performance of corresponding SOFCs. The results show that the nacre-like architecture significantly enhances the maximum fracture displacement and suppresses crack propagation. The multiphysics-coupled simulation results of single-cell performance agree well with experimental observations, elucidating the mechanical response characteristics and their influence on electrochemical performance. The proposed nacre-like cermet-metal composite architecture and the numerical simulation framework provide a feasible structural design strategy for future long-durability SOFCs.