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Science 1 August 2008:
Vol. 321. no. 5889, pp. 676 - 680
DOI: 10.1126/science.1156393
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Reports

Colossal Ionic Conductivity at Interfaces of Epitaxial ZrO2:Y2O3/SrTiO3 Heterostructures

J. Garcia-Barriocanal,1 A. Rivera-Calzada,1 M. Varela,2 Z. Sefrioui,1 E. Iborra,3 C. Leon,1 S. J. Pennycook,2 J. Santamaria1*

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°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.

1 Grupo de Física de Materiales Complejos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain.
2 Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.
3 Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicaciones, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jacsan{at}fis.ucm.es

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Comment on "Colossal Ionic Conductivity at Interfaces of Epitaxial ZrO2:Y2O3/SrTiO3 Heterostructures".
X. Guo (2009)
Science 324, 465
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Response to Comment on "Colossal Ionic Conductivity at Interfaces of Epitaxial ZrO2:Y2O3/SrTiO3 Heterostructures".
J. Garcia-Barriocanal, A. Rivera-Calzada, M. Varela, Z. Sefrioui, E. Iborra, C. Leon, S. J. Pennycook, and J. Santamaria (2009)
Science 324, 465
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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