Structural, morphological and electrical properties of spray deposited nano-crystalline CeO2 thin films

▶ Nanocrystalline, uniform, dense, and adherent cerium oxide (CeO2) thin films have been successfully deposited by a simple and cost effective spray pyrolysis technique. CeO2 films were deposited at low substrate and annealing temperatures of 350 °C and 500 °C, respectively. The deposited film showed high oxygen ion conductivity of 5.94 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 350 °C. This is due to the fact that in nano-crystalline materials grain boundaries have high defect densities and the atoms there have high mobility. Due to its nano-crystalline nature, the deposited ceria material will have high sinterability, high surface area and hence can have various applications such as in intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell, gas sensors, electrochromic smart window devices, in corrosion protection and catalysis.