Influence of Thermally Induced Oxygen Order on Mobile Ion Dynamics on Gd2(Ti0.65Zr0.35)2O7
K.J. Moreno; A.F. Fuentes; J. Hanuza; M. Maczka; U. Amador; J. Santamaría; C. León. Influence of Thermally Induced Oxygen Order on Mobile Ion Dynamics on Gd2(Ti0.65Zr0.35)2O7. Physical Review B (ISSN: 1098-0121). 2007, Vol. 75, p. 184303-1-2007.
We report on the influence of oxygen order in the oxygen ion dynamics in the ionic conductor Gd2(Ti0.65Zr0.35)2O7. The metastable Gd2(Ti0.65Zr0.35)2O7 powders prepared by mechanical milling present an anion deficient fluorite-type of structure, stable up to about 800°C. Thermal treatments at higher temperatures facilitate the gradual rearrangement of the cation and anion substructures and the relaxation of mechanochemically induced defects. Interestingly, metastable pyrochlores showing a very unusual cation distribution were observed during the thermally induced defect-recovery process. We have found that the ionic conductivity due to mobile oxygen ions increases significantly with increasing sintering temperature from 800 to 1500 ºC as a result of a systematic decrease in the activation energy for the dc conductivity from 1.23 to 0.78 eV. Electrical conductivity relaxation is well described by stretched exponentials of the form , and the fractional exponent n decreases systematically from n=0.51 to 0.18 with increasing sintering temperature. These results are explained in terms of weaker ion-ion interactions in the increasingly ordered structure of the samples sintered at higher temperatures, and point to the importance of structural disorder in determining the dynamics of mobile oxygen ions.
We report on the influence of oxygen order in the oxygen ion dynamics in the ionic conductor Gd2(Ti0.65Zr0.35)2O7. The metastable Gd2(Ti0.65Zr0.35)2O7 powders prepared by mechanical milling present an anion deficient fluorite-type of structure, stable up to about 800°C. Thermal treatments at higher temperatures facilitate the gradual rearrangement of the cation and anion substructures and the relaxation of mechanochemically induced defects. Interestingly, metastable pyrochlores showing a very unusual cation distribution were observed during the thermally induced defect-recovery process. We have found that the ionic conductivity due to mobile oxygen ions increases significantly with increasing sintering temperature from 800 to 1500 ºC as a result of a systematic decrease in the activation energy for the dc conductivity from 1.23 to 0.78 eV. Electrical conductivity relaxation is well described by stretched exponentials of the form , and the fractional exponent n decreases systematically from n=0.51 to 0.18 with increasing sintering temperature. These results are explained in terms of weaker ion-ion interactions in the increasingly ordered structure of the samples sintered at higher temperatures, and point to the importance of structural disorder in determining the dynamics of mobile oxygen ions.