Freeze casting, a near net shaping technique to fabricate porous materials with directional microstructures, has a very good development prospect. This review elaborates the applications of freeze casting technology on the preparation of robust YSZ (yttria stabilized zirconia) scaffolds in solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs), with the goal of reducing the polarization resistance caused by gas diffusion. In this article, the freeze casting process of YSZ support and its solidification principles are summarized. Meanwhile, the critical factors influencing the pore morphology and distribution, such as the dispersion mediums, additives, freezing conditions, and solid content, are included and discussed. The further development, application and prospect of freeze casting technology are proposed. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.