Electronic conductivity in nonstoichiometric cerium dioxide

The electrical conductivity of sintered specimens of nonstoichiometric CeO_2?x was measured as a function of temperature (750–1500°C) and oxygen pressure (1–10^?22 atm). The isothermal compositional dependence of the electrical conductivity of CeO_2?x was determined by combining recently obtained thermodynamic data, x = x(P_O2, T), with the conductivity data. The compositional and temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity may be represented by the expression

$\text{σ=410[x]e}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?(0.158+x)</mtext><mtext>kT</mtext>}}\text{(}\text{ohm cm}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$

over the temperature range 750–1500°C and from x = 0.001 to x = 0.1.This expression was rationalized in terms of the following simple relations for (a) the electron carrier concentration

$\text{n}{}_{\mathrm{ce}}\text{′}{}_{\mathrm{ce}}\text{=}\text{8x}\text{a}{}_0{}^3$

where n_Ce′Ce is the number of Ce′_Ce per cm³ and a₀ is the lattice parameter and (b) the electron mobility

$\text{μ=5.2(10}{}^{\mathrm{?2}}\text{)e}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?(0.158+x)</mtext><mtext>kT</mtext>}}\text{(}\text{cm}{}^2\text{/}\text{V sec}\text{)}$

.