Moderate temperature sintering of BaZr0.8Y0.2O3-δ protonic ceramics by A novel cold sintering pretreatment

The state-of-the-art protonic ceramic conductor BaZr0.8Y0.2O3-delta (BZY20) requires an extremely high sintering temperature (>= 1700 degrees C) to achieve the desired relative density and microstructure necessary to function as a proton conducting electrolyte. In this work, we developed a cold sintering pretreatment assisted moderate-temperature sintering method for the fabrication of high-quality pure BZY20 pellets. BZY20 pellets with high relative density of similar to 94% were fabricated with a final sintering temperature of 1500 degrees C (200 degrees C lower than the traditional sintering temperature). A comparison with BZY20 control samples indicated that the proper amount of BaCO3 introduced on the BZY20 particle surface and the high green density achieved by cold sintering pretreatment were the main drivers for lowering the sintering temperature. The electrical conductivity measurement by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that the as-prepared BZY20 pellets have a proton conductivity comparable to the state-of-the-art values. The cold sintering pretreatment outlined in this work has the potential to lower the sintering temperatures for similar types of protonic ceramic materials under consideration for a wide range of energy conversion and storage applications.

Automated summary

In this work, a cold sintering pretreatment assisted moderate-temperature sintering method was developed for the fabrication of high-quality pure BZY20 pellets with a relative density of approximately 94%. The proton conductivity of the as-prepared BZY20 pellets was comparable to state-of-the-art values, showing potential for lower sintering temperatures for similar protonic ceramic materials in energy conversion and storage applications.