Orientation microscopy–assisted grain boundary analysis for protonic ceramic cell electrolytes

Abstract

Grain boundaries in protonic ceramic cell (PCC) electrolytes hinder proton transport, reducing interfacial conductivity. In multicomponent PCC electrolytes, the inclusion of sintering aids further accentuates the complexity of grain boundaries. In this study, we synthesize nanocrystalline BaCe0.4Zr0.4Y0.1Yb0.1O3−δ thin films via pulsed laser deposition and analyze their grain boundary character distributions using orientation data collected by precession electron diffraction technique. The results reveal an anisotropic distribution of grain boundary characters, with notably high populations of 180°-tilt and twist grain boundaries. These findings provide critical insights into identifying the predominant grain boundaries in this PCC electrolyte material, assessing the vast five-dimensional grain boundary space.