Gadolinia-doped ceria films deposited by RF reactive magnetron sputtering

Gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) films were prepared by RF reactive magnetron sputtering from a Gd-10 at.% Ce alloy target in reactive O(2)/Ar gas mixtures and annealed at 700 degrees C for 2 h. Material characteristics and chemical compositions of GDC films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Electrical behaviors were measured by AC impedance in the range of 500-700 degrees C at OCV for air condition. The microstructure of GDC films was found to be an assembly of columnar crystallites with a cubic fluorite structure. The total conductivity of 700 degrees C-annealed GDC (GDC-1) with the obtained composition of (Ce(0.911)Gd(0.089))O(1.938) was higher than that of bulk yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), but smaller than bulk GDC. The governing mechanism of conduction of sputtered-GDC electrolyte films was mainly governed by a grain boundary process, which resulted in a blocking effect and the lower conductivity of thin films than that of bulk GDC samples. Our results suggested that sputtered-GDC films with a comparable conductivity can be used as solid electrolyte layers for a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system as compared to the well-known YSZ. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved