Y₂O₃-doped Zn_1-xNi_xO (x = 0, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, and 0.9) powders were prepared by a wet chemical synthesis method, and the related ceramics were obtained by the traditional ceramic sintering technology. The phases and related electrical properties of the ceramics were investigated. The analysis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates that the prepared ceramics with Ni substitution have a cubic crystalline structure. The resistance–temperature feature indicates that all the ceramics show a typical effect of negative temperature coefficient (NTC) of resistivity with the thermal constants between 3998 and 5464 K, and have high cyclical stability in a temperature range from 25 to 300 ℃. The impedance analysis reveals that both grain effect and grain boundary effect contribute collectively to the NTC effect. The electron hopping and band conduction models are proposed for the grain (bulk) conduction, and the thermally activated charge carrier transport overcoming the energy barrier is suggested for the grain boundary conduction.

Composite oxide ionic conductors consisting of Zr_0.85Y_0.15O_1.925 (YSZ) and La_9.33Si₆O₂₆ (LSO) have been synthesized by a modified coprecipitation method. X-ray diffraction, electron microscope, and complex impedance were adopted to investigate the phase component, microstructures, and conductivities, respectively. The results show that the average grain sizes of the composite powders and as-sintered pellets are less than 20 nm and 200 nm, respectively. The conductivity of the composite materials composed of 94 wt% YSZ and 6 wt% LSO is 0.215 S/cm at 700 ℃. The conductivity of the composite is three times higher than that of the polycrystalline YSZ and has two orders in magnitude higher than that of the polycrystalline LSO at 700 ℃. By analyzing the impedance spectra and modulus spectra, the grain-boundary effect on the conductivity improvement is investigated and the conductive mechanisms of the composite materials are discussed.