Anomalous low-temperature proton conductivity enhancement in a novel protonic nanocomposite

A novel protonic ceramic composite is synthesized that comprises nanoscale nickel metal films partially decorating the grain boundaries of the proton-conducting ceramic, BaCe(0.7)Zr(0.1)Y(0.1)Yb(0.1)O3-delta (BCZYYb). Low-temperature proton conductivity improvements of up to 46x vs. a control are observed, suggesting a novel method to enhance ion conductivity in polycrystalline materials.