Synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline dysprosia stabilized zirconia based electrolyte for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell

The present work concerns studies on synthesis (by chemical co-precipitation) and characterization (microstructural and electrical) of 8 and 10 mol% dysprosia stabilized nanocrystalline cubic-zirconia (DySZ) for use as electrolyte materials in solid oxide fuel cell in the intermediate temperature range. Identity and crystallite size of the calcined powders were determined by X-ray diffraction. Microstructural studies of calcined/sintered product by transmission and scanning electron microscopes allowed verification of crystallite/particle size and analysis of morphology/density/distribution of the defects, respectively. Impedance spectroscopy revealed that the contribution of grain boundary resistance is higher than that of the bulk. Furthermore, conductivity analysis evidenced an Arrhenius type thermally activated ionic conduction above 300 degrees C. Thus, DySZ appears a possible alternative to yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) as electrolyte for solid oxide fuel cells due to its lower thermal and comparable ionic conductivity as YSZ. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.