TRANSPORT STUDIES OF THE SOLID-SOLUTIONS X-SRO+(1-X)ND2O3 - 0.01-LESS-THAN-OR-EQUAL-TO-X-LESS-THAN-OR-EQUAL-TO-0.15

SrO-doped Nd2O3 systems (SDN) containing 1, 5, 10, and 15 mol% SrO were found to be solid solutions by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The lattice parameters(a) were obtained by the Nelson-Riley method, and the values increased with increasing dopant content. Thermal analysis showed that no phase transition occurred in the temperature range covered in this experiment. The electrical conductivity increases with temperature (450-115-degrees-C), but breaks appear in the conductivity curve, dividing it into two temperature regions. At the high temperatures of 750-840 to 110-degrees-C, the activation energy (E(a)) and oxygen pressure dependence of conductivity are found experimentally to be average 1.44 eV and 1/n=1/5.3, and the possible defects and charge carriers are suggested to be metal vacancies and electron holes, respectively. At the lower temperatures of 450 to 750-840-degrees-C, the E(a) and 1/n values obtained are average 0.51 eV and 1/n=1/7.3 to 1/8.3, respectively. At the lower temperature, the SDN system may contain a mixed conduction involving ionic conductivity due to diffusion of oxygen ion.