Browsing by Author "Fuentes, Antonio F."

This work describes the synthesis, structural characterization and electrical properties of solid solutions with the general formula Gd2Hf2−xBxO7, where B = Ti4+, Sn4+ and Zr4+. All samples were successfully prepared in ~ 30 h, via a mechanochemical reaction in a planetary ball mill, using the corresponding elemental oxides as starting chemicals. The XRD and Raman spectroscopy analysis of the title samples revealed that on firing at 1500 °C Hf4+ substitution by Sn4+ and Ti4+ produces better ordered pyrochlore structures and decreases the electrical conductivity of Gd2Hf2O7 by more than two orders of magnitude (from 2.7 × 10−4 at 700 °C to 8.71 × 10−7 and 1.12 × 10−6 Sm cm−1, for Gd2Sn2O7 and Gd2Ti2O7, respectively). By contrast, the Gd2Hf2−xZrxO7 system remains disordered with conductivity increasing by almost an order of magnitude and reaching a value for Gd2Zr2O7 of 1.55 × 10−3 Sm cm−1 at 700 °C, whereas the activation energy for oxygen migration decreases in both, the Sn- and Ti-containing systems, and increases slightly in the Zr-containing solid solution. These changes cannot be only explained when taking into account the cations size ratio criteria; the covalency of the metal bond plays also a key role in determining the structural characteristics and electrical properties of the title three systems.

Depending on intrinsic (e.g., radius ratio rule rLn/rZr) and extrinsic factors (e.g., processing conditions), pyrochlore-type Ln2Zr2O7 oxides achieve variable degrees of structural disorder. We report on a systematic study of the structural and microstructural characteristics of the Gd2–xLnxZr2O7 system, exploring the effect of replacing Gd with a wide range of homovalent lanthanide ions (Ln = Nd, Sm, Dy, Ho, Y, and Er; x = 0.20 and 0.80). All compositions were prepared via a mechanochemical reaction between the corresponding oxides and characterized by X-ray diffraction (standard and synchrotron sources) using the Rietveld method, as well as by Raman spectroscopy. Irrespective of chemical composition, this study reveals that all compositions exhibit a fluorite-like structure. Furthermore, by firing each sample at 800 and 1400 °C, we are able to analyze the transition to pyrochlore-like structures, featuring different degrees of disorder, in all but Gd1.20Y0.80Zr2O7, which retains the fluorite structure even after heating. The structural data are used to assess the existing criteria for predicting the formation and stability of the pyrochlore structure; according to this analysis, the simple radius ratio rule (rLn/rZr), provides a useful and sufficiently robust criterion. Because the pyrochlore structure has a strong tendency to disorder, it is not possible to define an empirical index similar to the Goldschmidt tolerance factor for perovskite.