“…The vacancies, through the coupled interactions among the vacancies and ions in these different alloys can dramatically affect the structural, thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of the system. Furthermore, the optimum ionic conductivity of each alloy varies with synthesis route and sintering conditions due to the resultant diverse local morphologies and microstructures (Badwal et al, 1992;Butz et al, 2006;Chen et al, 2002;Fukui et al, 2004;Ioffe et al, 1978;Korte et al, 2008;Zhang et al, 2007;Zhu et al, 2005). Thus a variety of different morphologies and microstructures of YSZ can be found in experiments (Badwal et al, 1992;Butz et al, 2006;Chen et al, 2002;Cheng et al, 2011;Etsell et al, 1970;Fukui et al, 2004;Ioffe et al, 1978;Korte et al, 2008;Lashtabeg et al, 2006;Zhang et a., 2007;Zhu et al, 2005).…”