Solid solution enhanced electrostriction in the YSZ-GDC system

Giant electrostrictors based on oxygen deficient fluorites are of great technological and scientific interest due to their unusual electromechanical properties. It is, however, still not clear whether solid solutions between different fluorites can affect the electrostrictive properties. In this work, we investigated the electromechanical response of four different solutions of 10 mol% gadolinium-doped ceria (GDC10) and 8mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ), corresponding to 1, 5, 10 and 20 wt% of 8YSZ into GDC10. An increase in the electrostriction coefficient with the 8YSZ content (maximum between 10 and 20 wt%) was registered. This effect suggests that the development of complex solid solutions could represent a new tool to develop electromechanical materials with superior properties. [Display omitted] •GDC-YSZ homogeneous solid solutions with fluorite structure were produced.•The addition of YSZ to GDC causes a modification of the Raman feature related to defects association.•The solid solutions possess giant electromechanical response.•The M33 of the solid solution was larger than that of pure ceria.•Giant electrostriction does not follow the rule of mixture in fluorites.