Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T15:26:58.848Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Analysis of the Atomic-Scale Defect Chemistry at Interfaces in Fluorite Structured Oxides by Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Y. Ito
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115
Y Lei
Affiliation:
Department of Physics (M/C 273), University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607
N.D. Browning
Affiliation:
Department of Physics (M/C 273), University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607
T.J. Mazanec
Affiliation:
BP Amoco Chemicals, Naperville, IL 60566-7011
Get access

Abstract

Gd3+ doped Ce oxides are a major candidate for use as the electrolyte in solid oxide fuel cells operating at ∼500 °C. Here, the effect of the atomic structure on the local electronic properties, i.e. oxygen coordination and cation valence, at grain boundaries in the fluorite structured Gd0.2Ce0.8O2-x ceramic electrolyte is investigated by a combination of atomic resolution Z-contrast imaging and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). In particular, EELS analyses from grain boundaries reveals a complex interaction between segregation of the dopant (Gd3+), oxygen vacancies and the valence state of Ce. These results are similar to observations from fluorite-structured Yttria-Stabilized Zirconium (YSZ) bicrystal grain boundaries.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

[1] Steele, B. C. H., J. Power Sources 49, 1 (1994).Google Scholar
[2] Steele, B. C. H., Solid State Ionics 129, 95 (2000).Google Scholar
[3] Wang, Z. L. and Kang, Z. C., Functional and Smart Materials (Plenum, 1998)Google Scholar
[4] Pennycook, S. J. and Jesson, D. E., Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 938 (1990).Google Scholar
[5] Egerton, R. F., Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy in the Electron Microscope (Plenum, 1996).Google Scholar
[6] Browning, N. D., Chisholm, M. F. and Pennycook, S. J., Nature 366, 143 (1993).Google Scholar
[7] James, E. M. and Browning, N. D., Ultramicroscopy 78, 125 (1999).Google Scholar
[8] Lei, Y., Ito, Y., Browning, N. D., Mazanec, T. J., J. Am. Cer. Soc. (2001) submitted.Google Scholar
[9] Klie, R. F. and Browning, N. D., Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 3737 (2000).Google Scholar
[10] Dickey, E. C. and Fan, X., J. Am. Cer. Soc. 84, 1361 (2001).Google Scholar
[11] Yuan, J., Hirayama, T., Ikuhara, Y., and Sakuma, T., Micron, 30, 141 (1999).Google Scholar
[12] Garvie, L. A. J. and Buseck, P. R., J. Phys. Chem. Solids. 60, 1943 (2000).Google Scholar
[13] Fortner, J. A. and Buck, E. C., Appl. Phys. Lett., 68, 3817 (1996).Google Scholar