Grain boundary protonic conductivity in highly dense nano-crystalline Y-doped BaZrO3

Abstract

We have investigated protonic conduction in highly dense (>98%) polycrystalline Y-doepd BaZrO3 (BYZ) ceramic with an average grain size of ~ 85 nm. It is observed that the protonic conductivity across the grain boundaries in this nano-crystallilne BYZ (n-BYZ) is significantly higher than the microcrystalline counterpart. Such a remarkable enhancement in grain boundary conductivity results in high overall conductivity that may allow this chemically stable protonic conductor to serve as a solid electrolyte for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell applications.