Generate realistic Solid Oxide Cell microstructures, fast and reliably

Solid oxide cell (SOC) technology is emerging as a cornerstone of tomorrow's energy systems, offering a highly efficient and sustainable pathway for energy conversion. In SOFC mode, SOCs enable clean and reliable power generation; in SOEC mode, they provide a powerfult solution for storing renewable energy. Yet, despite their potential, experimental research remains expensive and time-consuming, while material degradation and lifetime limitations continue to slow industrial-scale deployment.

The Solid Oxide Electrode Generation GeoApp empowers researchers to overcome these challenges by enabling the generation of highly realistic microstructures. Through advanced stochastic geometric modeling, the tool creates detailed three-phase microstructures (2 solids + 1 pore phase) that closely replicate electrode materials such as Ni-YSZ or Ni-CGO anodes. This approach provides a powerful, physics-aware alternative to traditional particle-packing methods and supports more accurate and efficient SOC material development.

By integrating stochastic modeling, virtual testing (e.g., with GeoDict), and multi-physics simulations, researchers can explore new materials, optimize electrode designs, and develop robust design guidelines even before physical experiments are required.

• Produces continuous phase networks that closely resemble real sintered microstructures
• Enables precise control over solid volume fractions and wetting behavior
• Supports large-scale parametric studies with realistic variability
• Allows customization of microstructure characteristics0 by adjusting the correlation functions used in the generation process

The outcome: physically meaningful, fully customizable 3D structures ready for virtual testing, image analysis, and multi-physics simulations. 

Moreover, these microstructures are not limited to SOC applications. They can also support the design of other fuel cell components with similar architectures, such as the catalyst layers (CL) of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells and electrolyzers, capturing realistic distributions of the carbon phase with Pt catalyst, the ionomer, and the pore space.

Whether you are developing next-generation SOC electrodes or refining established systems like Ni-YSZ, this GeoDict GeoApp gives you the tools to:

• Rapidly generate digital twins of real electrode materials
• Virtually evaluate how microstructural variations influence performance
• Derive robust design guidelines for longer-lasting, higher-performing SOC devices

With GeoDict Cloud and Massive Simultaneous Cloud Computing (MSCC), hundreds of virtual structures can be analyzed in parallel, drastically reducing time-to-insight.

Start generating SOC microstructures today and speed up the entire material's discovery process.