Tailoring Defect Chemistry via Lu Doping Enables Highly Active and Stable High-Temperature Electrochemical Dehydrogenation

Protonic ceramic electrolysis cells (PCECs), as a dehydrogenation reaction platform, show significant potential for the production of high-value-added products. However, the lack of efficient and stable anodes limits the practical application of this technology. In this work, we designed a Lu-doped perovskite oxide anode material, BaCo0.375Fe0.375Zr0.125Lu0.125O3-δ (BCFZLu). Advanced spectroscopic characterizations revealed that the Lu dopant reduces the overall metal-oxygen covalency, promotes the formation of oxygen vacancies, and enhances the hydration capability, thus facilitating the dehydrogenation process. Consequently, in the water electrolysis test, the PCECs with the BCFZLu electrode achieve a high current density of -1.2 A cm-2 at 1.3 V and robust stability over 300 h. When applied to alkane dehydrogenation at 700 °C, the PCEC achieved an ethylene selectivity of 93.63% in ethane dehydrogenation and an olefin selectivity of 75.53% in propane dehydrogenation, rivalling state-of-the-art anode materials. The strategy can be extended to other electrodes for high-temperature electrochemical devices.