Preparation of nano-structured Pt-YSZ composite and its application in oxygen potentiometric sensor

► We have fabricated Pt-YSZ composite with carbon black and the precursors such as chloroplatinic acid, zirconyl nitrate and yttrium nitrate. ► The as-prepared Pt-YSZ composite consists of cubic crystalline YSZ of 5-10 nm in diameter and Pt particles of 25-35 nm in diameter, and there has an uniform Pt/YSZ interface distribution in the composite. ► The Pt-YSZ composite electrodes exhibits excellent electrochemical performance when evaluated by EIS measurements. ► The introduction of the nano-structured Pt-YSZ composite into the oxygen potentiometric sensor can reduce sensor's operating temperature to be about 380 °C, and also can reduce sensor's response time to be about 5 s at 400 °C.