Structural Characterization and Ionic Conductivity of Metastable Gd2(Ti0.65Zr0.35)2O7 Powders Prepared by Mechanical Milling
AbstractWe analyze in this work the influence of ordering on the oxygen ion dynamics in the ionic conductor Gd2(Ti0.65Zr0.35)2O7, prepared by mechanical milling. As-prepared powder phase presents a metastable anion deficient fluorite-type of structure below 800°C becoming a disordered pyrochlore above this temperature. Such phase transformation implies a significant increase in the ionic conductivity of this material 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 the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts (KWW) stretched exponential function with the fractional exponent n decreasing systematically with increasing sintering temperature (increasing ordering) as a result of decreasing ion-ion interactions in better ordered samples.