A combination of electroless and electrolytic techniques is used to incorporate nickel into a porous Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.90 scaffold. First a porous backbone was screen printed into a YSZ electrolyte using an ink that contains sacrificial pore formers. Once sintered, the scaffold was coated with silver using Tollens' reaction followed by electrodeposition of nickel in a Watts bath. At high temperatures the silver forms droplets enabling direct contact between the gadolinia-doped ceria and nickel. Using impedance spectroscopy analysis in a symmetrical cell a total area specific resistance of 1 Omega cm(2) at 700 degrees C in 97% H-2 with 3% H2O was found, indicating the potential of this fabrication method for scaling up. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.