Effect of sintering temperature on structural and electrical properties of gadolinium doped ceria (Ce0·9Gd0·1O1·95)

Gadolinium doped ceria oxide is one of the promising materials as an electrolyte for IT-SOFCs. Ce0·9Gd0·1O1·95 (GDC10) powder was prepared by solid state reaction and sintered at 1473 K, 1573 K, 1673 K and 1773 K. All samples were studied using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron micrograph and d.c. conductivity measurement. The crystallinity and surface morphology of the samples improved with sintering temperature. Further, the electrical conductivity measurement indicated that the conduction mechanism is mainly ionic. The conductivity of samples sintered at 1673 K and 1773 K at 800°C are of the order of 0·1 S-cm−1. The activation energies decreased from 1·25–0·82 eV with increase in sintering temperature.