Ionic Conductivity of Zirconia-Scandia-Dysprosia Solid Electrolyte

Abstract

The effects of small additions of dysprosia (1, 1.5 and 2 mol%) to zirconia-10 mol% scandia were investigated by spectroscopic techniques. The main purpose of this work was to study the influence of the rare earth additive on the structural and electrical properties of the zirconia-scandia solid electrolyte. The compositions were prepared by solid state synthesis and the characterization techniques comprise X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and impedance spectroscopy. Fully stabilization of the cubic structure occurred for 2 mol% dysprosia addition. For lower additive contents the cubic reflections coexist with those of the β-rhombohedral phase. The additive was also found to inhibit the densification of the zirconia-scandia solid electrolyte. The activation energy for oxide ion conduction is 1.31 eV.