Electrical and thermal characterization of Sm³⁺ doped ceria electrolytes synthesized by combustion technique

Nanocrystalline samarium doped ceria electrolyte [Ce_0.9Sm _0.1O_1.95] was synthesized by citrate gel combustion technique involving mixtures of cerium nitrate oxidizer (O) and citric acid fuel (F) taken in the ratio of O/F = 1. The as-combusted precursors were calcined at 700 °C/2 h to obtain fully crystalline ceria nano particles. It was further made into cylindrical pellets by compaction and sintered at 1200 °C with different soaking periods of 2, 4 and 6 h. The sintered ceria was characterized for the microstructures, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity properties. In addition, the combustion derived ceria powder was also analysed for the crystallinity, BET surface area, particle size and powder morphology. Sintered ceria samples attained nearly 98% of the theoretical density at 1200 °C/6 h. The sintered microstructures exhibit dense ceria grains of size less than 500 nm. The electrical conductivity measurements showed the conductivity value of the order of 10^-2 S cm^-1 at 600 °C with activation energy of 0.84 eV between the temperatures 100 and 650 °C for ceria samples sintered at 1200 °C for 6 h. The room temperature thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity values were determined as 0.5 × 10^-6 m² s^-1 and 1.2 W m^-1 K^-1, respectively.