La9.33Si6O26 electrolyte thin films for IT-SOFC application deposited by a HIPIMS/DC hybrid magnetron sputtering process

Apatite-type La9.33Si6O26 thin films were elaborated by co-sputtering of two metallic La and Si targets powered, respectively, by high power impulse magnetron sputtering and direct current sources, in pure Ar atmosphere, followed by a subsequent high temperature oxidation treatment in air. The structural and chemical features of these films have been assessed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The film with near lanthanum silicate La/Si atomic ratio deposited on a porous Ni-YSZ cermet substrates was initially amorphous. After thermal oxidation at 1,173 K in air, the coating crystallised under the expected apatite structure. SEM observation revealed that both film compactness and thickness increased after thermal oxidation. The conductivity evolution with temperature of the pure apatite-like lanthanum silicate coatings, as measured by complex impedance spectroscopy, showed that the activation energy of is quite low compared to the literature data.