The development of electrolyte materials with high conductivity at low and medium temperatures is an important direction for the future development of low-cost solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). Doped cerium oxide (DCO) has good electrical conductivity at 500~700 ℃, and its ionic conductivity is much higher than that of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte materials at the same temperature, so it becomes the focus in application and research of medium temperature SOFC electrolyte material. However, Ce4+ in DCO is easy to be partially reduced to Ce3+ in reducing atmosphere, increasing electronic conductivity and manufacturing costs, and reducing open circuit voltage. Therefore, many studies have been conducted on rare earth elements and alkaline earth metals doped cerium oxide electrolytes and composite electrolytes to overcome these problems, and it has been found that the two-phase composite electrolyte is conductive to improving the ionic conductivity and stability of DCO. Based on the overview of zirconium-based solid electrolytes, Bi2O3-based electrolytes, LaGaO3-based oxides, CeO2-based oxides and other SOFC electrolytes, the single doped, double doped, and multi-doped cerium oxide electrolytes were summarized. The research progress of doped cerium oxide-carbonate composite electrolyte and two kinds of electrolyte composite electrolyte materials was also reviewed. In addition, the application of film-forming methods such as casting, screen printing, slurry coating, electrophoresis deposition, spray pyrolysis, sputtering, atmospheric plasma spraying, and laser pulse deposition was introduced in the preparation of cerium-based electrolyte film formation. In the end, the research direction of cerium base electrolyte was prospected.