Plate Nº 68 · recorded November 13, 2026
Chemistry & MaterialsReported finding
Liquid-phase growth produces dense ceramic films at 800°C
Researchers grew dense, uniform 10 μm yttrium-doped barium zirconate ceramic films at 800°C, using molten carbonate and a seed layer to guide crystal growth at ambient pressure.
By Priya Raman3 min read541 words
In brief
- Dense BZY electrolyte films about 10 μm thick were grown at 800°C under ambient pressure.
- The model material, yttrium-doped barium zirconate, has a melting point of about 2,700°C.
- Liquid-phase growth used molten carbonate and a seed layer to guide crystal nucleation and growth.
- Fuel-cell tests confirmed favorable electrochemical performance.
- The team also demonstrated large-area fabrication, metal substrates and other ceramic materials.
By Priya Raman
A 2026 Nature Synthesis study reports dense yttrium-doped barium zirconate ceramic films about 10 micrometers (μm) thick, grown at 800°C under ambient pressure.
The work came from professors Yang Weishen and Zhu Xuefeng of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Their liquid-phase growth strategy (LPG, a route that forms a ceramic film from a molten medium) forms a solid layer at substantially lower temperatures.
Ceramic films have roles in solid-state batteries, energy-conversion devices and electronic systems. Making them often requires sintering (a heat treatment that compacts ceramic material).
High temperatures can cause elemental volatilization (elements escaping as gases) and compositional segregation (elements separating and distributing unevenly). They can also provoke undesirable interfacial reactions (chemical changes at boundaries between materials).
Why does a lower processing temperature matter?
Those effects can compromise both material composition and the quality of an interface. Professor Zhu Xuefeng said: "Conventional ceramic processing often relies on high temperatures, which can compromise material composition and interface quality." The LPG strategy offers an alternative route to dense films at lower temperatures.
The researchers used yttrium-doped barium zirconate (BZY), a proton-conducting ceramic (one that transports protons), as their model material. Its melting point reaches about 2,700°C, well above the 800°C growth step.
How does the liquid medium produce a dense film?
Molten carbonate served as the liquid growth medium. A seed layer (a guiding layer for crystal formation) directed crystal nucleation (the formation of the first crystals) and subsequent growth.
The researchers used in situ characterization (observations made while the process unfolded) to follow the sequence. They tracked molten carbonate formation, precursor dissolution (the starting material dissolving in the medium), crystal nucleation and crystal growth.
The process produced BZY electrolyte films (the ion-carrying layers) about 10 μm thick. The researchers reported uniform composition, minimal secondary-phase formation (little formation of additional material phases) and limited interfacial interdiffusion (mixing of elements across boundaries).
What did the fuel-cell tests show?
Fuel-cell tests confirmed favorable electrochemical performance (how the films behaved in a fuel cell). The summary does not specify numerical fuel-cell output, efficiency or durability, so the scale of the performance benefit remains unspecified.
Can the strategy extend to other systems?
The team further demonstrated large-area fabrication, metal substrates and other ceramic materials. That scope supports the possibility of lower-temperature ceramic manufacturing across several systems.
The summary gives no production speed, yield, measured film area or long-term durability data. Those practical measures remain open, even as the study points toward broader applications for ceramic films.
Professor Zhu Xuefeng said: "Our liquid-phase growth strategy offers an alternative route to fabricating dense ceramic films at lower temperatures. It can also be adapted to different ceramic materials and substrates, opening up new possibilities for their processing and application."
Where were the results published?
The paper, "Liquid-phase growth of dense ceramic films," lists Qiuxia Feng as first author and appears in Nature Synthesis in 2026. Its digital object identifier (DOI) is 10.1038/s44160-026-01207-0.
The demonstrated result is a dense-film process at 800°C, while its practical manufacturing scale remains unquantified in the published summary.
via phys.org/rss-feed/ (Source)
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Senior reporter covering people, launches and day-to-day practice in general science news at SciBeat.
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