Electrical properties of heterovalently doped apatite-like oxosilicates

Oxygen-ion-conductive apatite-like oxosilicate and silicophosphate ceramics has been prepared by sintering sol-gel synthesis products at temperatures 200°C below those of solid-phase synthesis. The electrical properties of the ceramics obtained have been studied by impedance spectroscopy in the range 400–1000°C. A positive effect of heterovalent substitutions in the silicon sublattice on the bulk and intergrain conductivities is established. The increase in the oxygen-ion conductivity in La_9.6Si_5.7Mg_0.3O_26.1 in comparison with the other studied oxosilicates by more than two orders of magnitude is related to the formation of additional interstitial positions for oxygen ions as a result of partial substitution of the silicon ion, tetrahedrally coordinated by oxygen, with the Mg ion having a characteristic octahedral coordinatio