## 1 Introduction  
Solid oxide electrochemical cells such as solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) or solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) are promising future green energy technologies for energy generation and production of hydrogen. SOEC is a solid oxide fuel cell that works in a reversed mode of operation. SOEC and SOFC are typically composed of an anode, cathode, and a solid electrolyte as the three basic cell components, where the SOFC anode becomes the cathode in SOEC when operated in the reverse mode. In order to circumvent the problems associated with high temperature of operation (around 1000 \({}^{\circ}\)C), such as degradation during long-term high temperature exposure, ongoing research efforts have been dedicated to developing new material components or tailoring the existing material in order to lower the operation to intermediate temperatures of around 500-800 \({}^{\circ}\)C [1; 2; 3].  
For the electrode material, a mixed ionic and electronic conducting material or composite that provides both electronic as well as ionic conductivity as an electrode is needed. The typically studied cathode material for SOEC is Ni/yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) due to the use of YSZ as a solid electrolyte. YSZ is a typical solid electrolyte that is widely studied due to its high phase stability and high ionic conductivity [2]. However, at intermediate temperatures (around 500 \({}^{\circ}\)C to 800 \({}^{\circ}\)C),it exhibits low ionic conductivity [4]. One promising solid electrolyte is the Sc-doped ZrO\({}_{2}\) (ScSZ) material system that shows higher ionic conductivity than YSZ at lower temperatures [5; 6; 7]. Hence, using this Sc-based ZrO\({}_{2}\) for both the solid electrolyte and the ionic conducting phase of the electrode may enhance SOEC or SOFC performance at intermediate operating temperatures.  
Only limited reports have been published on the combination of ScSZ with Ni as an electrode material. In SOFC mode, electrode materials using Ni and 10 Sc1 CeSZ:ZrO\({}_{2}\)[4], Ni/10 mol%Sc\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)-1 mol%Y\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)-stabilized ZrO\({}_{2}\)[8], Ni/10 Sc\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)-1 CeO\({}_{2}\)-89 ZrO\({}_{2}\)[9; 10], Ni/10 mol%Sc\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)-90 mol % ZrO\({}_{2}\)[10; 11], and Ni/Zr\({}_{0.81}\)Sc\({}_{0.19}\)O\({}_{1.905}\)[12] have been reported. For the preparation of these electrode materials, the typical synthesis method involves using a solid state reaction. In our previous work, we employed a modified glycine-nitrate combustion method to synthesize NiO/YSZ [13]. The use of the glycine-nitrate (g/n) combustion method significantly decreases the sintering temperature and produces a much finer morphology compared with the solid state reaction method [1; 2; 11]. The microstructure can also be tailored using this combustion process using different g/n ratio [14].  
In this study, a composite of Ni and 8 mol % Sc\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)-stabilied ZrO\({}_{2}\) or Ni/ Zr\({}_{0.84}\)Sc\({}_{0.16}\)O\({}_{1.92}\) electrode material was synthesized using a single-step glycine-nitrate combustion method. The 8 mol % Sc\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)-stabilied ZrO\({}_{2}\) with Zr\({}_{0.84}\)Sc\({}_{0.16}\)O\({}_{1.92}\) composition has not been reported in the literature in combination with Ni as an electrode material, either as an anode for SOFC or as a cathode for SOEC. In addition, three different glycine to nitrate molar ratios (g/n = 0.27, 0.54, and 1.1) were used for the synthesis and the resulting microstructure and conductivity of the sintered samples were investigated.