Electrical conductivity of synthesized Zircon ceramics doped with different dopants
| dc.contributor.author | Fervin, S. Z. R. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-10-21T02:52:40Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-10-21T02:52:40Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2006 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The electrical conductivity enhancement of laboratory synthesized zircon ceramics, doped with different dopants has been studied using complex impedance spectroscopy. The cation dopants used in this study were Y³⁺ Fe³⁺ Yb³⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Na ²⁺ Er³⁺, Na ²⁺+Y³⁺ and Na⁺+ Fe³⁺ It is expected, that the presence of defects in the zircon host structure introduced by doping can lead to higher electrical conduction. First, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis was performed on the zircon samples doped different cations to find out whether zircon formation was successful. Then, the ‘complex impedance measurements were performed as a function of temperature. The XRD analysis shows that, the formation of zircon was successful in the samples doped with 10 mol % Y₂0₃ 10 mol % Fe₂O₃, 10 mol % Yb₂O₃, 10 mol % MgO, 10 mol % CaO and 10 mol % Er₂O₃. The electrical conductivity of synthesized zircon ceramics increased with increasing temperature irrespective of the dopant. A good conductivity enhancement was obtained in zircon doped with 10 mol % Y₂0₃ and 10 mol % Fe₂0₃ which were 2.47x10⁻⁵ S cm⁻¹ and 1.33x10⁻⁵ S cm⁻¹ at 700 °C respectively. These values are nearly equal to the data reported in literature for natural zircon. The conductivity enhancement in zircon samples doped with Y₂O₃ and Fe₂O₃ is most probably due to the motion of O²⁻ ions by vacancy mechanism. The O²⁻ ion vacancies were created as a consequence of the substitution of Y³⁺ and Fe³⁺for Zr⁴⁺or Si⁴⁺. For substitution to take place the ions must be comparable in size. This indicates that, the ionic radii of Y³⁺ and Fe³⁺ are comparable to that of Zr⁴⁺or Si⁴⁺, However, the zircon samples doped with Yb₂0₃, MgO, CaO and Er₂O₃ did not show any significant conductivity enhancement. This may be due to non-incorporation of these dopants into the host structure of zircon to give a defect structure as a result of the difference in ionic radii of the cations. Hence, O²⁻ vacancies were not created and the conductivity was not increased. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ir.lib.pdn.ac.lk/handle/20.500.14444/2128 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | University of Peradeniya | |
| dc.subject | Physics of materials | |
| dc.subject | Ceramics | |
| dc.title | Electrical conductivity of synthesized Zircon ceramics doped with different dopants | |
| dc.type | Thesis |