Since the pre-industrial period, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions have been identified as the leading cause of climate change and global warming. Reports from the Word Meteorological Organization (WMO) illustrate that the global carbon emissions from fossil fuels reached a record high (426.77 ppm) in January 2025. Hence, CO₂ conversion into valuable products like carbon monoxide (CO) and Oxygen (O₂) has become a significant focus of interest.

Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOECs) have an immense potential to be used as an efficient electrochemical method to convert CO₂ to CO. Typically, in SOEC, the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂-RR) occurs at the cathode side, where CO₂ is electrochemically converted to CO and oxygen ions (O^2-) at an applied voltage. The O^2-, produced during this process, are transported to the anode through the electrolyte, where they react to form molecular oxygen (O₂). As the cathode plays a major role in the electrochemical reduction of CO₂, it greatly influences the efficiency and performance of SOEC. An ideal electrode material for SOECs should possess fast electrode kinetics, high energy efficiency, and low cost. Currently, Ni-based cathodes mainly Ni-YSZ, Ni-GDC and Ni-SDC are widely employed in SOECs for CO₂-RR due to their high efficiency in converting CO₂ to CO and their cost-effectiveness. However, certain issues limit their large-scale application. These cathodes experience significant loss of electrical conductivity and deactivation due to the easy re-oxidation of Ni (Ni → NiO), carbon deposition at high CO concentrations, and the growth of nickel particles during operation.

To overcome these limitations, Prof. Abudukeremu Kadier and Prof. Peng-Cheng Ma’s group at the Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (XTIPC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has successfully developed new nickel-basalt tablet (Ni-BT) material was successfully fabricated and used as a cathode for CO₂ reduction in a SOEC with the configuration of Ni-BT/SDC/YSZ/SDC/LSCF. Ni-BT was employed as cathode material, LSCF was used as anode material, and YSZ was used as a solid electrolyte. SDC was added as an interlayer between the electrodes to enhance ionic conductivity and strengthen the bond between YSZ and Ni-BT. A series of characterization methods were employed to investigate its properties and confirm its effectiveness in CO₂-SOEC. The Ni-BT/SDC/YSZ/SDC/LSCF single cell achieved a high current density (480 mA/cm²) and a low polarization resistance (1.91 Ω cm²). The current densities of the single cell increased as the operating temperature increased, this was attributed to the favorable thermodynamics and the fast electrochemical reaction kinetics. Interestingly the cell exhibited high CO production (7.45 ml min⁻¹ cm⁻²) with a faradaic efficiency greater than 90 %. The findings of this study present nickel and basalt as a prospective cathode for CO₂ electrolysis in SOEC.

The research results have been recently published in the international journal International Journal of Hydrogen Energy.