Structural, morphological and conductivity properties of samaria doped ceria (SmxCe1-xO2-x/2) electrolytes synthesized by electrospinning method

Highlights: • Samarium doped ceria electrolytes were synthesized via electrospinning. • Sinterability of the electrolytes decreased with increasing Sm³⁺ amount. • SDC-17 exhibited the highest conductivity value of 0.0346 S cm⁻¹. -- Abstract: Samaria doped ceria (SDC) electrolytes with theoretical Sm³⁺ doping concentrations (15, 20 and 25 mol%) were synthesized by electrospinning method and electrolyte performances were investigated for the first time in the literature. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) and impedance analysis. It was determined that the Sm³⁺ contents of the samples were 17.4, 24 and 27.8 mol% instead of the theoretical values of 15%, 20% and 25% by using SEM-EDX analysis. XRD analysis confirmed that the doping of Sm³⁺ into Ce⁴⁺ was successful. The relative density of the samples was 95.8%, 81.4% and 76% for SDC-17, SDC-24, and SDC-28 samples respectively. The results showed that the sintering and the grain formation of the SDC nanofibers prepared by electrospinning method were difficult at particularly high samarium concentrations. It was found that the SDC-17 exhibited the highest ionic conductivity with the value of 0.0346 S cm⁻¹. Higher doping concentrations caused a decrease in ionic conductivity and an increase in activation energy.