Synthesis and Physicochemical Properties of Nanopowders and Ceramics in a CeO2–Gd2O3 System

Abstract

Nanopowders with a composition of (СeO2)1–x(Gd2O3)x (x = 0.03, 0.05, 0.07, and 0.10) are synthesized by the coprecipitation method using cryotechnologies. The coherent scattering region (CSR) of the powders is 10–14 nm and the specific surface area is 70–81 m2/g. Based on the powders, ceramic nanosized materials with CRS of 64–71 nm are obtained. The dependence of the phase composition, microstructure, and electrical transport properties of the obtained samples on the Gd2O3 content is established. In a CeO2–Gd2O3 system, a solid solution with the composition of (CeO2)0.90(Gd2O3)0.10 has the highest ionic conductivity with the transfer number of ions of ti = 0.74 at a temperature of 700°C. It is shown that ceramics of this composition can be used as a solid electrolyte of intermediate-temperature fuel cells due to their physicochemical characteristics.