La₂O₃ doped nanocrystalline zirconia (ZrO₂) was prepared by chemical co-precipitation method for the 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, 20 and 30 mol% concentrations of La₂O₃ . X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the as-synthesized samples contain only monoclinic phase. Annealing at higher temperatures lead to tetragonal/cubic structural phase stabilization. Sintering the samples at temperature 1173 K stabilized the tetragonal and cubic phases. Grain sizes were found to lie between 10 and 13 nm. Electrical conductivity studies were performed on the cubic/tetragonal phase stabilized La₂O₃ -ZrO₂ by complex impedance spectroscopy. The conductivity increases up to the dopant concentration 10 mol% and then decreases with further increase in La2O3 concentration. Initial increase in conductivity is correlated to the stabilization of the cubic phase and the subsequent decrease in the conductivity with the dopant content is interpreted on the basis of the oxygen-ion movement model. Electrical conductivity has contributions from grain and grain boundary regions. But the grain boundary conductivity is slightly higher than the corresponding grain conductivity. Higher grain boundary conductivity shows higher diffusion coefficient for the atoms on the surface of the ZrO₂ grains. The possible mechanism of the oxygen ion conduction in the La₂O₃ stabilized zirconia (LSZ) is reported.

• Legal notice:
  

  Copyright (c) Pielaszek Research, all rights reserved.
  The above materials, including auxiliary resources, are subject to Publisher's copyright and the Author(s) intellectual rights. Without limiting Author(s) rights under respective Copyright Transfer Agreement, no part of the above documents may be reproduced without the express written permission of Pielaszek Research, the Publisher. Express permission from the Author(s) is required to use the above materials for academic purposes, such as lectures or scientific presentations.
  In every case, proper references including Author(s) name(s) and URL of this webpage: https://science24.com/paper/3807 must be provided.