Characteristics of gadolinia-doped ceria films deposited by spray pyrolysis

Nowadays the challenges on SOFC are to find a way to produce good quality electrolyte, which does not need sintering at high temperature. This work presents the results of a process optimization applied to gadolinia-doped ceria thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis (SP). The aim of this work was to achieve thin, dense, and continuous CGO coatings, which may serve as electrolyte for SOFC. Dense substrates were used as substrates for the deposition. Cerium ammonium nitrate and gadolinium acetylacetonate were used as precursors' salts. Parameters such as gas flow, liquid flow and temperature were studied. Controlling these parameters, thin, dense, crack-free films could be produced on dense and porous substrates. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the films were crystalline after the deposition without requiring post-deposition heat treatment. Van der Pauw technique showed that the produced films have good conductivity, suitable for use as intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell electrolytes.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye