Structural and electrical properties of spark plasma sintered scandia- and dysprosia-stabilized zirconia

Zirconia–10mol% scandia–1mol% dysprosia solid solution was prepared by the coprecipitation method assisted by spark plasma sintering aiming to verify the densification and the electrical conductivity of the solid electrolyte. Full stabilization of the cubic phase at room temperature was evidenced by room temperature X-ray diffraction. The consolidation technique allowed for obtaining high relative density (>97% of the theoretical value) specimens at low temperatures (1100–1300°C) with average grain sizes in the submicrometer–micrometer range depending on the sintering temperature. The average grain size is 4.76μm after consolidation at 1300°C for 4min. The total electrical conductivity reached 3.6mS⋅cm−1 at 650°C. •The influence of dysprosium oxide addition to zirconia–scandia is investigated.•High densification is obtained by spark plasma sintering.•Dysprosium oxide addition promotes stabilization of the cubic phase at room temperature.•The total electrical conductivity is enhanced in the low temperature range.