A soft chemistry route for the synthesis of nano solid electrolytes Ce1−xBixO2−x/2

A polymeric synthesis route to Ce1−xBixO2−x/2 solid electrolytes is proposed for alternating conventional high-temperature solid-state reactions. This synthesis route is based on a modified Pechini process, which allows the polymerization of precursors at 300–500°C. Ce1−xBixO2−x/2 derived from citrate gels crystallizes in cubic fluorite-type structures and shows solid solution properties with Bi-doping content ranging from x = 0.1 to 0.4. The nanoparticle size (∼30 nm) of Ce1−xBixO2−x/2 allows better sintering into highly ceramic pellets at 900°C. The highest ionic conductivity for the x = 0.3 composition at 600°C was 1.42 × 10−2 S·cm−1 with Ea = 0.95 eV.