Master sintering curve for Gd-doped CeO2 solid electrolytes.

The sintering behavior of gadolinia-doped ceria powders was studied by the master sintering curve (MSC). Dilatometric analyses of powders produced by a soft chemical method were performed to provide the experimental data set for the construction of the MSC. The assumed model provided good fittings of the MSC and the activation energy for the sintering of Ce1− xGd xO3−δ, with x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 were found to be in the 218–325 KJ/mol range, depending on the dopant content. The results supported that both the nanometric size of the particles and the difference in ionic radii between Gd3+ and Ce4+ affects the sintering of Gd-doped CeO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]