Enhanced ionic transport in fine-grained scandia-stabilized zirconia ceramics

In this work, the transport properties of fine-grained scandia-stabilized zirconia ceramics with low Si content have been investigated. These materials were prepared from ZrO2–6 mol% Sc2O3 nanopowders synthesized by a nitrate-lysine gel-combustion route. High relative densities and excellent electrical properties were obtained, even for sintering temperatures as low as 1350 °C. Our electrochemical impedance spectroscopy study showed that both the volume fraction of grain boundaries and the specific grain-boundary conductivity are significantly enhanced with decreasing grain size, resulting in a higher total ionic conductivity.