Microstructure and electrical conductivity of NiO–YSZ nano-powder synthesized by aerosol flame deposition

The aerosol flame deposition (AFD) process was capable of producing mixed metal oxide powders with 10–500 nm size from low-cost liquid precursors. The nickel oxide–yttria stabilized zirconia (NiO–YSZ) powders used as an anode of SOFC has been synthesised by using AFD process. It was demonstrated that this process is suitable for fabricating the nano-sized and spherical NiO–YSZ particles capable of enhancing three phase boundary areas. The synthesis process was studied by changing processing parameters such as the concentration and the composition ratio of the precursor solution and the flow rates of the flame gases. The sufficiently crystallized and spherically shaped NiO–YSZ particles were synthesized successfully and the size distribution was bimodal when observed by TEM. As changing contents of Ni and YSZ, the conductivities of NiO–YSZ pellet exhibited a typical mixed conductor behaviour of which the ionic conduction is in high temperature range and the electronic conduction is in lower temperature range.