Phase equilibria and thermodynamics of coexisting phases in rare-earth element-iron-oxygen systems. II. The praseodymium-iron-oxygen system

The phase equilibria and the thermodynamics of coexisting phases in the PrFeO system have been studied using static and dynamic methods for attaining equilibrium with subsequent annealing and identification of the condensed phases by X-ray analysis. Equilibrium phase diagrams have been constructed to define the changes that take place in the PrFeO system on variation of the partial oxygen pressure, the temperature, and the composition of the initial mixture of oxides. An isothermal cross section at 1300°K and equilibrium diagrams of the type P_O2 = f(composition) with with one composition parameter fixed and T = f(composition) with P_O2 = constant have been constructed. It has been shown in the PrFeO system that only one ternary compound with perovskite structure, PrFeO₃, is formed, and furthermore, it is stable no matter how high the partial oxygen pressure.