Anion diffusion

Fig. 1.81 Oxidation of flat surfaces, (a) When cations diffuse the initially formed oxide drifts towards the metal (b) when anions diffuse the oxide drifts in the opposite direction...

In the very early stages of oxidation the oxide layer is discontinuous both kinetic and electron microscope" studies have shown that oxidation commences by the lateral extension of discrete oxide nuclei. It is only once these interlace that the direction of mass transport becomes of importance. In the majority of cases the metal then diffuses across the oxide layer in the form of cations and electrons (cationic diffusion), or as with the heavy metal oxides, oxygen may diffuse as ions with a flow of electrons in the reverse direction (anionic diffusion). The number of metals oxidising by both cationic and anionic diffusion is believed to be small, since a favourable energy of activation for one ion generally means an unfavourable value for the other... 

In systems in which anionic diffusion prevails (Fig. 1.81b), metal is consumed by direct reaction to form the diffusing oxygen species... 

The oxygen vacancies then diffuse to the gas interface where they are annihilated by reaction with adsorbed oxygen. The important point, however, is that metal is consumed and oxide formed in the same reaction zone. The oxide drift has thus only to accommodate the net volume difference between the metal and its equivalent amount of oxide. In theory this net volume change could represent an increase or a decrease in the volume of the system, but in practice all metal oxides in which anionic diffusion predominates have a lower metal density than that of the original metal. There is thus a net expansion and the oxide drift is away from the metal. 

Oxide movements are determined by the positioning of inert markers on the surface of the oxideAt various intervals of time their position can be observed relative to, say, the centreline of the metal as seen in metal-lographic cross-section. In the case of cation diffusion the metal-interface-marker distance remains constant and the marker moves towards the centreline when the anion diffuses, the marker moves away from both the metal-oxide interface and the centreline of the metal. In the more usual observation the position of the marker is determined relative to the oxide/ gas interface. It can be appreciated from Fig. 1.81 that when anions diffuse the marker remains on the surface, but when cations move the marker translates at a rate equivalent to the total amount of new oxide formed. Bruckman recently has re-emphasised the care that is necessary in the interpretation of marker movements in the oxidation of lower to higher oxides. 

Fig. 1.83 Oxidation of a convex surface by anion diffusion the outward translation of the oxide gives tensile cracking in the initially formed oxide...

Anionic diffusion in the oxidation of a convex surface creates a situation which is the reverse of that just described. The oxide is in tension along planes parallel to the surface and fracture may be expected to occur readily in perpendicular directions and starting from the gas/metal interface. Although very thin films may have resistance to fracture, thick films frequently acquire the morphology shown in Fig. 1.83. 

The time t has been scaled with the overall cation diffusion time tp = L2jDp, where Dp is the cation diffusivity. The dimensionless relative anion diffusivity D in (5.2.1b) is the ratio of the anion diffusivity Dn to Dp. 

A SINGLE ANION DIFFUSING NEAR SEVERAL STATIONARY CATIONS... 

A chronapotentiometric method has been used by Gordon and Sundheim (18) to measure the anionic diffusion for the potassium in NH solution in the presence and absence of salt. The limiting value of diffusion coefficient for the electron is in the region of 14.5 X 10 -6 cm.2/sec. This agrees with values derived from Dye (12). The anionic diffusion coefficient is several times larger than that for the neutral metal species. Gordon and Sundheim, however, do not believe that there is necessarily... 

It is very informative to compare the set of equations for the anion vacancy case with the corresponding set for anion interstitial diffusion. There is a one-to-one correspondence, with the slight differences being due to the appearance of 2 f(av) in place of in the coefficients. This can be noted most easily by referring to Table 1. Our conclusion is that the growth equations based on anion diffusion are essentially independent of whether the anion diffusion occurs by an interstitial or a vacancy mechanism. 

For any particular solid, the relative activation barriers for the available mechanisms determine whether the anions or cations are responsible for the ionic conduction. For example, in a yttria-stabilized Zr02, with the formula Zri Y ,.02-(x/2). aliovalent substitution of Zr by Y generates a large number of oxygen vacancies, giving rise to a mechanism for oxide ion conduction. Indeed, it is found that the anions diffuse about six orders of magnitude faster than the cations. 

Figure 5.3 depicts the Arrhenius plots of the apparent self-diffusion coefficient of the cation (Dcation) and anion (Oanion) for EMIBF4 and EMITFSI (Figure 5.3a) and for BPBF4 and BPTFSI (Figure 5.3b). The Arrhenius plots of the summation (Dcation + f anion) of the cationic and anionic diffusion coefficients are also shown in Figure 5.4. The fact that the temperature dependency of each set of the self-diffusion coefficients shows convex curved profiles implies that the ionic liquids of interest to us deviate from ideal Arrhenius behavior. Each result of the self-diffusion coefficient has therefore been fitted with VFT equation [6].

Self-diffusivity, cooperatively with ionic conductivity, provides a coherent account of ionicity of ionic liquids. The PGSE-NMR method has been found to be a convenient means to independently measure the self-diffusion coefficients of the anions and the cations in the ionic liquids. Temperature dependencies of the self-diffusion coefficient, viscosity and ionic conductivity for the ionic liquids, cannot be explained simply by Arrhenius equation rather, they follow the VFT equation. There is a simple correlation of the summation of the cationic and the anionic diffusion coefficients for each ionic liquid with the inverse of the viscosity. The apparent cationic transference number in ionic liquids has also been found to have dependence on the... 

The aforementioned requirements on surface stability are typical for all exposed areas of the metallic interconnect, as well as other metallic components in a SOFC stack (e.g., some designs use metallic frames to support the ceramic cell). In addition, the protection layer for the interconnect, or in particular the active areas that interface with electrodes and are in the path of electric current, must be electrically conductive. This conductivity requirement differentiates the interconnect protection layer from many traditional surface modifications as well as nonactive areas of interconnects and other components in SOFC stacks, where only surface stability is emphasized. While the electrical conductivity is usually dominated by their electronic conductivity, conductive oxides for protection layer applications often demonstrate a nonnegligible oxygen ion conductivity as well, which leads to scale growth beneath the protection layer. With this in mind, a high electrical conductivity is always desirable for the protection layers, along with low chromium cation and oxygen anion diffusivity. 

Cation and anion diffuse at approximately the same speed. 

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