Development of ceria-doped zirconia electrolytes with high toughness and ionic conductivity

Development of Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2 electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cell with better mechanical properties was attempted. 3 mol% Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2 doped with 3–15 mol% CeO2 was investigated in the present work. The results reveal that the toughness and the bending strength of 3–6 mol% CeO2 doped 3 mol% Y2O3–ZrO2 are much higher than that of 8 mol% Y2O3–ZrO2. The best ionic conductivity observed in 6 mol% ceria-doped 3 mol% Y2O3–ZrO2 electrolyte is better than that of 8 mol% Y2O3–ZrO2 at 800 °C, which indicates the possibility of developing ZrO2-based electrolyte with enhanced toughness.