Nano Express
Ionic Transport Properties in Nanocrystalline Ce0.8A0.2O2-δ (with A = Eu, Gd, Dy, and Ho) Materials
Author affiliations
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, 600036, India
Citation and License
Nanoscale Research Letters 2010, 5:637-643 doi:10.1007/s11671-010-9527-z
Published: 30 January 2010Abstract
The ionic transport properties of nanocrystalline 20 mol% Eu, Gd, Dy, and Ho doped cerias, with average grain size of around 14 nm were studied by correlating electrical, dielectric properties, and various dynamic parameters. Gd-doped nanocrystalline ceria shows higher value of conductivity (i.e., 1.8 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 550°C) and a lower value of association energy of oxygen vacancies with trivalent dopants Gd3+ (i.e., 0.1 eV), compared to others. Mainly the lattice parameters and dielectric constants (ε∞) are found to control the association energy of oxygen vacancies in these nanomaterials, which in turn resulted in the presence of grain and grain boundary conductivity in Gd- and Eu-doped cerias and only significant grain interior conductivity in Dy- and Ho-doped cerias.
