Gadolinium-doped cerium oxide (GDC) is an attractive ceramic
material for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) both as the electrolyte
and in composite electrodes operating at low and intermediate
temperatures. GDC exhibits high oxygen ion conductivity at a
wide range of temperatures and displays a high resistance to
carbon deposition when hydrocarbons are used as fuels. However,
an inconvenience of ceria-based oxides is the high sintering
temperature needed to obtain a fully dense ceramic body. In this
study, a green chemistry route for the synthesis of 10 mol% GDC
nanoparticles is proposed. The aqueous precipitation method starts
from the nitrates of both cerium and gadolinium and uses excess
hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) to produce crystalline GDC at 80
ºC. Such a low temperature synthesis provides control over particle
size and sinterability of the material at low temperatures.