Epitaxial Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia on Muscovite for Flexible Transparent Ionic Conductors

The advantages of ionic conductors have attracted great interest worldwide because they can fit the requirements that standard electrical conductors struggle to meet. Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is the most common ionic conductor for various practical applications. In this study, in order to bring ionic conductors into the field of soft technology, transparent YSZ films with superior mechanical flexibility were epitaxially grown on a muscovite substrate by pulsed-laser deposition. The epitaxial relationship between YSZ and muscovite has been well established, indicating a high-crystallinity thin film. The heterostructure of YSZ/muscovite exhibits excellent ionic conductivity with great mechanical flexibility. The smallest bending radius of this heterostructure that can be achieved is ∼10 mm with excellent mechanical cyclabilty (>800 cycles) and stability (>105 s), serving as a new platform to fabricate highly flexible ionic conductors