This work focuses on understanding the oxygen-ion transport through mixed Grain Boundaries (GBs) present in yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), a common solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) electrolyte.

The performance of solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) cells while operating in the natural gas assisted steam electrolysis (NGASE) mode was evaluated. The SOE cells used yttria-stabilized-zirconia (YSZ) as the oxygen ion conducting electrolyte, Co–CeO2–YSZ as the H2–H2O electrode, and Pd-doped CeO2 YSZ source as the CH4-oxidation electrode. The cell electrochemical performance was evaluated as a fu...

Antibacterial bioceramics were successfully fabricated by adding 0.5 wt% silver to yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and their surface antibacterial properties were investigated. Silver-containing YSZ bioceramics exhibited superior antibacterial rate against both Staphylococcus aureus (99.9%) and Escherichia coli cells (88.6%) compared with non-doped-YSZ. The antibacterial action of silver was s...

The reliability of sensors that are used to monitor insitu electrochemical corrosion potential (ECP) for water condition of boiling water reactors (BWR) under an irradiation field is quite important [1]. In these sensors, the ion conductivity of yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is utilized to measure the ECP. Therefore, for the accurate estimate of ECP, effects of irradiation on YSZ have to be ...

During the last three decades, a large number of investigations has been reported pertaining to the science and technology of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) based mainly on the yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte. Because of the problems associated with the high temperature of operation ( ,-~ 1 000 ~ of the YSZ-based cells, there has been a substantial effort to develop alternative ele...

Functionally graded materials (FGM) in the form of layered structure consisting of yttria stabilized zirconia (8 mol% Y2O3) and nickel were fabricated by spark plasma sintering procedure. The relative density, linear shrinkage and Vickers hardness of each layer of graded materials were measured. The microstructure and the composition of these components were studied. The results obtained show t...

The microstructure and morphology of solid-oxide fuel-cell electrodes are very complex but important because they strongly affect the electrical performance of the cell. In this work the high-resolution X-ray nanotomography technique is applied to reconstruct the three-dimensional microstructure of a (La(0.8)Sr(0.2))(0.95)MnO(3) yttria-stabilized zirconia composite cathode. Some key microstruct...

UNLABELLED Laser-based diagnostics and therapeutics show promise for many neurological disorders. However, the poor transparency of cranial bone (calvaria) limits the spatial resolution and interaction depth that can be achieved, thus constraining opportunity in this regard. Herein, we report preliminary results from efforts seeking to address this limitation through use of novel transparent cr...

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is of interest to the aerospace community, notably for its application as a thermal barrier coating for turbine engine components. In such an application, diffusion of both oxygen ions and cations is of concern. Oxygen diffusion can lead to deterioration of a coated part, and often necessitates an environmental barrier coating. Cation diffusion in YSZ is much sl...

In this work, thin film yttria-stabilized zirconia [YSZ] solid electrolytes were sputtered onto insulating substrates at room temperature and 600oC in order to produce different average grain sizes (~15-50 nm). For reference, polished samples of single crystal and bulk, poly-crystalline YSZ were also used. Platinum film electrodes were then sputtered on top and lithographically patterned to giv...