High-Throughput Measurement of Ionic Conductivity in Composition-Spread Thin Films

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the feasibility of high-throughput investigation of ionic conductivity in oxygen-ion conductors. Yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) composition-spread thin films with nanometer-size grains were prepared by 90° off-axis reactive RF cosputtering. We compare results for two electrode configurations, namely, out-of-plane (parallel plate) and in-plane (planar interdigitated electrode) and find that the contribution from the intragrain conductivity in YSZ thin films (150 nm) is more explicit in the latter configuration because it greatly diminishes electrode effects. The intragrain oxygen ion conductivity of thin film YSZ was systematically measured as a function of yttria concentration over the range 2 mol % to 12 mol %. The results show that the measured conductivity of the YSZ thin films is close to that of corresponding bulk materials with a peak value around 3 × 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ at 440 °C at the optimum Y₂O₃ concentration of 8 mol %. Validation of this technique means that it can be applied to novel chemical systems for which systematic bulk measurements have not been attempted.

Towards autonomous high-throughput multiscale modelling of battery interfaces

“…The design of the high-throughput cell is of paramount interest and has been widely investigated, which span from jet printed electrodes and multi-probe automated liquid dispensing system to a sputtered array of electrodes. 158,164,176,177 Despite the complexity associated with the fabrication route, an array of 64 cells has been developed and tested successfully. 146 The highthroughput and combinatorial array approach can be efficiently deployed for electrochemical screening of interface materials at the full-cell level to expedite the screening process significantly.…”

High‐Throughput Experimentation and Computational Freeway Lanes for Accelerated Battery Electrolyte and Interface Development Research

“…Furthermore, both electrodes are deposited on the top of thin film for the in‐plane configuration and the spacing between electrodes is 5–10 µm, which causes less influence on ion conduction. [ 117 ] However, the in‐plane configuration often suffers from artifacts due to stray capacitance and conductance through the substrate. [ 118,119 ] Duan et al reported a feasible HT measurement of ionic conductivity in thin films of multiple oxide systems [ 117 ] by measuring the oxygen ionic conductivity of thin film yttria‐stabilized zirconia using two different configurations, out‐of‐plane and in‐plane as shown in Figure 9.…”

“…[ 117 ] However, the in‐plane configuration often suffers from artifacts due to stray capacitance and conductance through the substrate. [ 118,119 ] Duan et al reported a feasible HT measurement of ionic conductivity in thin films of multiple oxide systems [ 117 ] by measuring the oxygen ionic conductivity of thin film yttria‐stabilized zirconia using two different configurations, out‐of‐plane and in‐plane as shown in Figure 9. On the other hand, Huang et al demonstrated a HTt measurement of ionic conductivity of solid state electrolytes by using an out‐of‐plane configuration.…”

Automated, high throughput exploration of process–structure–property relationships using the MapReduce paradigm

“…It requires a systematic, and invariably laborious combinatorial search of process and system variables to identify, interrogate, quantify, curate and index the (micro)structures that are produced. Consequently, the high throughput material science paradigm has been introduced to address computational challenges in large-scale materials analytics [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11].…”

“…It has subsequently been adopted in other areas of material science such as screening for new materials (and compositions) with desired properties including electronic, magnetic, optical properties as well as for energy-harvesting materials [6,7,8]. These high throughput studies have been performed using both experimental [9] as well as computational methods of analysis [10,11]. Looking at the literature available, it appears that most applications of high throughput explorations have focused on the atomistic, molecular, or composition scales [10,11] while there has been lesser focus on the microstructural scale [15].…”