Stabilisation dopant-dependent facilitation in ionic conductivity on millimeter-wave irradiation heating of zirconia-based ceramics

Ionic conductivity was measured on scandia-, calcia-, and gadolinia-stabilised zirconia ceramics under quasi-millimeter-wave (MMW) irradiation heating and conventional heating. Conductivity enhancement was evaluated for these ceramics and compared with our previous report on yttria- and ytterbia-stabilised zirconia ceramics (YSZ and YbSZ, respectively). The ionic conduction for the various cation-substituted zirconia ceramics was enhanced under MMW irradiation heating. In the case of scandia-stabilisation, the optimal composition demonstrating maximum ionic conductivity was 12-mol% zirconia (ScSZ) under MMW irradiation heating, which was larger than under conventional heating. Such an optimal composition shift was similar to results for YSZ ceramics. These results are discussed in terms of the activation energies for vacancy-ion dissociation and ion transfer.