Recent developments in oxide ion conductors: focusing on Dion-Jacobson phases.

Abstract

Oxide-ion conductors, also known as "oxygen ion conductors," have garnered significant attention in recent years due to their extensive applications in a variety of electrochemical devices, including oxygen concentrators, solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), and solid oxide electrolysis cells. The key to improving the performance of these devices is the creation of novel oxide-ion conductors. In this feature article, we discuss the recent developments of new structural families of oxide-ion conductors and of the Dion-Jacobson-type layered oxide-ion conductors with a particular emphasis on CsM2Ti2NbO10-δ (M = Bi and lanthanoids; δ represents oxygen-vacancy content) and their solid solutions. CsBi2Ti2NbO10-δ is the first example of an oxide-ion conductor with a Dion-Jacobson-type layered perovskite structure, and the structural characteristics of these materials are extracted here. We have proposed an original concept that the large sized Cs+ cations and M3+ displacements yield the large bottlenecks for oxide-ion migration, which would facilitate the discovery of novel oxide-ion conductors. This article presents evidence that Dion-Jacobson-type layered perovskites are superior oxide-ion conductors. We also demonstrate how the information gleaned from these studies can be applied to the design of novel oxide-ion conductors.