Sintering and electrical properties of Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9 film prepared by spray pyrolysis and tape casting

Ce_0.8Sm_0.2O_1.9 (SDC) powder was synthesized by spray pyrolysis at 650 °C. XRD results showed that phase-pure SDC powder with an average crystallite size of 11 nm was synthesized. SDC electrolyte film was prepared by tape casting and sintered at different temperatures of 1,300, 1,400 and 1,500 °C for 2 h, respectively. The SDC electrolyte film was relatively denser and showed finer microstructure at relatively lower temperature of 1,400 °C, which might be due to the high sintering activity of the spray pyrolysis SDC powder. The ionic conductivity of the SDC electrolyte film sintered at 1,400 °C reached a maximum value of 9.5 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ (tested at 600 °C) with an activation energy for conduction of 0.90 eV.