Characterization of Ce1−xZrxO2 thin films prepared by pyrolytic spray technique

It was demonstrated that spray pyrolysis can be used to prepare Ce1−xZrxO2 thin films with x between 0 and 1. The composition of these films was determined by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), and the crystalline structure by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy (RS). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was performed in an electrolyte of propylene carbonate with 1 M LiClO4. Films with high Zr content were incapable of charge exchange of Li+ ions. In the contrast, films with high Ce content were found to be able to insert/extract large charge densities of Li+ ions. They also remained transparent during Li+ intercalation.