Crystalline structure, microstructure and electrical characterizations of FeO1.5 doped YSZ

(8YSZ)(1-x)(FeO1.5)(x) (x=0, 0.02, 0.08, 0.14 and 0.16) was synthesized by co-precipitation. Crystalline structure, microstructure, electronic conductivity and total conductivity were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Hebb-Wagner method and DC van der Pauw method, respectively, and the effects of FeO1.5 content on the above properties were investigated. XRD showed the solubility limit of FeO1.5 in YSZ to be between 14 mol% and 16 mol%. SEM analysis showed FeO1.5 dopant to promote YSZ sintering and densification. (8YSZ)(0.86)(FeO1.5)(0.14) had the highest electronic conductivity compared to other samples which increased with the decrease of oxygen partial pressure. Total conductivity of samples increased to a maximum and then decreased slightly with the increase of FeO1.5 content.