Protonic Conduction in the Single Crystal of Sc-Doped SrZrO₃

Abstract

The protonic conduction of Sc-doped SrZrO3 (SrZr1-xScxO3) in the single crystal form is investigated. The SrZr1-xScxO3 crystals exhibit significantly higher conductivity than the pure ones, and the crystal with x=0.05 exhibits the highest conductivity of those masured. The activation energy of the SrZr1-xScxO3 crystal decreases rapidly with increasing Sc3+ concentration when x≤0.05, and increases when x>0.05. The activation energy of SrZr0.95Sc0.05O3 agrees with the energy separation between hole states at the top of the valence band and the Fermi level.