Grain Size Dependence of Ionic Conductivity of Polycrystalline Doped Ceria

Conductivities of polycrystalline ceria doped with several rare earth oxides were measured by AC admittance and DC four probe method. The conductions were separated into grain and grain boundary contributions using the complex admittance technique as well as grain size dependence of conductivity. The grain size dependence of polycrystalline conductivity, which can be adequately described by the so-called brick layer model, appears to give a more reliable measure of the grain conductivity compared to the complex admittance method. Polycrystalline resistivity(1/conductivity) increases linearly with the reciprocal of grain size. The intercept of resistivity vs. inverse grain size plot gives a measure of the grain resistivity and the slope gives a measure of the grain boundary resistivity. It was also noted that errors involved in the analysis of experimental data may be different between the complex admittance method and the impedance method. A greater resolution of the spectra was found in the complex admittance method, insofar as the present work is concerned, suggesting that the commonly used equivalent circuit may require re-evaluation.