Cobalt oxide co-doping effect on the sinterability and electrical conductivity of nano-crystalline Gd-doped ceria

Nano-crystalline 3 mol% CoO-doped GDC (Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95) powders of high sinterability at lower sintering temperature have been synthesized by deposition–precipitation method. The physical and chemical properties of the obtained powders were characterized by XRD, XPS, BET, EDS and TEM. From sintering studies, CoO-doped GDC can be fully densified (97% relative density) at a lower temperature of 850 °C. It has also been found that the sintered samples have a higher ionic conductivity of 2.38 × 10−2 S cm−1 at 600 °C in air.