The introduction of an appropriate amount of Bi2O3 is advantageous for improving the sinterability of SNDC, resulting in a decrease in the sintering temperature to 1150 degrees C of the half-cell with a high density electrolyte. The sintering behavior and electrochemical properties is investigated systematically. The ionic conductivity of SESB-SNDC is increased significantly compared to that of the conventional SNDC due to the fast oxygen ion transport along the ESB. Series xESB-SNDC electrolyte is applied to anode supported single cells with the structure of NiCuO-SNDC vertical bar xESB-SNDC vertical bar ESB-LSM from 450 to 650 degrees C. A higher maximum power densities (MPD) and lower ohmic resistance (R-o) are obtained with the addition of ESB. The power output for composite electrolyte cell is very encouraging, reaching 129 mW cm(-2) at 450 degrees C for 5ESB-SNDC(20 mu m). The results demonstrate that ESB addition is an effective strategy to optimize ceria-based low-temperature SOFCs (LT-SOFCs). (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.