Nonrandom point defect configurations and driving force transitions for grain boundary segregation in trivalent cation doped ZrO₂

Atomistic modeling of La3+ doping segregation effect on nanocrystalline yttria-stabilized zirconia

The effect of La3+ doping on the structure and ionic conductivity change in nanocrystalline yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) was studied using a combination of Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations. The simulation revealed the segregation of La3+ at eight tilt grain boundary (GB) structures and predicted an average grain boundary (GB) energy decrease of 0.25 J m-2, which is close to the experimental values reported in the literature. Cation stabilization was found to be the main reason for the GB energy decrease, and energy fluctuations near the grain boundary are smoothed out with La3+ segregation. Both dynamic and energetic analysis on the Σ13(510)/[001] GB structure revealed La3+ doping hinders O2- diffusion in the GB region, where the diffusion coefficient monotonically decreases with increasing La3+ doping concentration. The effect was attributed to the increase in the site-dependent migration barriers for O2- hopping caused by segregated La3+, which also leads to anisotropic diffusion at the GB.

Direct Observation of Oxygen Vacancy Distribution across Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia Grain Boundaries

Crystalline interfaces in materials often govern the macroscopic functional properties owing to their complex structure and chemical inhomogeneity. For ionic crystals, however, such understanding has been precluded by the debatable local anion distribution across crystal interfaces. In this study, using yttria-stabilized zirconia as a model material, the oxygen vacancy distribution across individual grain boundaries was directly quantified by atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy with ultrahigh-sensitive energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Combined with dynamical scattering calculations, we unambiguously show that the relative oxygen concentrations increase in four high-angle grain boundaries, indicating that the oxygen vacancies are actually depleted near the grain boundary cores. These results experimentally evidence that the long-range electric interaction is the dominant factor to determine the local point defect distribution at ionic crystal interfaces.

Atomically ordered solute segregation behaviour in an oxide grain boundary

Grain boundary segregation is a critical issue in materials science because it determines the properties of individual grain boundaries and thus governs the macroscopic properties of materials. Recent progress in electron microscopy has greatly improved our understanding of grain boundary segregation phenomena down to atomistic dimensions, but solute segregation is still extremely challenging to experimentally identify at the atomic scale. Here, we report direct observations of atomic-scale yttrium solute segregation behaviours in an yttria-stabilized-zirconia grain boundary using atomic-resolution energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis. We found that yttrium solute atoms preferentially segregate to specific atomic sites at the core of the grain boundary, forming a unique chemically-ordered structure across the grain boundary.

Solute segregation is challenging to experimentally identify at the atomic scale. Here, the authors report the direct observation of atomic site-dependent solute segregation behaviour in an yttria-stabilized zirconia grain boundary by atomic-resolution energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.