Colossal ionic conductivity at interfaces of epitaxial ZrO2:Y2O3/SrTiO3 heterostructures.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 18669859.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/science.1156393.
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Abstract
The search for electrolyte materials with high oxygen conductivities is a key step toward reducing the operation temperature of fuel cells, which is currently above 700 degrees C. We report a high lateral ionic conductivity, showing up to eight orders of magnitude enhancement near room temperature, in yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ)/strontium titanate epitaxial heterostructures. The enhancement of the conductivity is observed, along with a YSZ layer thickness-independent conductance, showing that it is an interface process. We propose that the atomic reconstruction at the interface between highly dissimilar structures (such as fluorite and perovskite) provides both a large number of carriers and a high-mobility plane, yielding colossal values of the ionic conductivity.