Out-of-Plane Ionic Conductivity Measurement Configuration for High-Throughput Experiments

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Solid-State Ionics

Background:

• Accurate conductivity measurements are crucial for developing advanced electrolytes.
• Thin-film electrolytes require specialized techniques for reliable characterization.
• High-throughput methods are needed to accelerate materials discovery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel out-of-plane measurement approach for thin-film electrolyte conductivity.
• To analyze the geometric requirements for successful high-throughput conductivity measurements.
• To validate the method using samaria-doped ceria (SDC) thin films.

Main Methods:

• Developed an out-of-plane measurement configuration suitable for high-throughput experimentation.
• Utilized patterned electrodes (100-500 μm diameter) on thin films.
• Employed AC impedance spectroscopy to measure conductivity from ~200 to ~500 °C.
• Deposited SDC films on conductive Nb-doped SrTiO3 substrates.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated excellent agreement between bulk and thin-film SDC conductivity.
• Validated the effectiveness of both continuous and patterned electrode geometries.
• The patterned electrode array allowed measurements at hundreds of positions on a single film.

Conclusions:

• The presented approach is effective for measuring thin-film electrolyte conductivity.
• The patterned electrode geometry facilitates high-throughput analysis and composition screening.
• This method holds potential for accelerating the discovery of new electrolyte materials.