Point defects oxygen vacancies

Let us refer to Figure 5-7 and start with a homogeneous sample of a transition-metal oxide, the state of which is defined by T,P, and the oxygen partial pressure p0. At time t = 0, one (or more) of these intensive state variables is changed instantaneously. We assume that the subsequent equilibration process is controlled by the transport of point defects (cation vacancies and compensating electron holes) and not by chemical reactions at the surface. Thus, the new equilibrium state corresponding to the changed variables is immediately established at the surface, where it remains constant in time. We therefore have to solve a fixed boundary diffusion problem. 

Solid-state diffusion, which is involved in the release of oxygen, proceeds generally through the movement of point defects. The vacancy mechanism, the interstitial mechanism, and the interstitialcy mechanism can occur depending on the distortion of the solid lattice and the nature of the diffusing species. When one of the steps 1-5 is the slowest step representing the major resistance, that step is the rate-controlling one, which is not necessarily the chemical reaction (step 3). 

The disorder on sites is clearly at the origin of this particular behavior. It generates not only variations in composition, but also differences with respect to electrical neutratity, cations B , B" having different charges, Mg and Nb in the case of PMN. The presence of point defects, oxygen and lead vacancies is susceptible to ensure the local electroneutrality and to stabilize the composition disorder. Thus, the elimination of lead vacancies in a PST cerantic is sufficient to induce an ordinary paraferroelectric transition. 

One feature of oxides is drat, like all substances, they contain point defects which are most usually found on the cation lattice as interstitial ions, vacancies or ions with a higher charge than dre bulk of the cations, refened to as positive holes because their effect of oxygen partial pressure on dre electrical conductivity is dre opposite of that on free electron conductivity. The interstitial ions are usually considered to have a lower valency than the normal lattice ions, e.g. Zn+ interstitial ions in the zinc oxide ZnO structure. 

An effect which is frequently encountered in oxide catalysts is that of promoters on the activity. An example of this is the small addition of lidrium oxide, Li20 which promotes, or increases, the catalytic activity of dre alkaline earth oxide BaO. Although little is known about the exact role of lithium on the surface structure of BaO, it would seem plausible that this effect is due to the introduction of more oxygen vacancies on the surface. This effect is well known in the chemistry of solid oxides. For example, the addition of lithium oxide to nickel oxide, in which a solid solution is formed, causes an increase in the concentration of dre major point defect which is the Ni + ion. Since the valency of dre cation in dre alkaline earth oxides can only take the value two the incorporation of lithium oxide in solid solution can only lead to oxygen vacaircy formation. Schematic equations for the two processes are... 

S. 3 Water Dissociation at Oxygen Vacancies and the Identification of Point Defects 221 8.3... 

A number of the well-known y-induced centers in n-type Si are also neutralized by atomic hydrogen (Pearton, 1982). The A-center (oxygen-vacancy complex, Ec-0.18eV and divacancy level (Ec-0.23eV) are passivated, while the E-center (phosphorus-vacancy complex, Ec -0.44 eV) is thermally removed at relatively low temperatures and its susceptibility to hydrogenation could not be determined. Point defects... 

The conductivity of titanium dioxide, TiC>2, at 1166 K was found to depend upon the oxygen partial pressure as in the following table. Assuming that oxygen vacancies are introduced into the oxide as the main point defect, is the vacancy more likely to be doubly or singly charged ... 

Thermodynamic considerations imply that all crystals must contain a certain number of defects at nonzero temperatures (0 K). Defects are important because they are much more abundant at surfaces than in bulk, and in oxides they are usually responsible for many of the catalytic and chemical properties.15 Bulk defects may be classified either as point defects or as extended defects such as line defects and planar defects. Examples of point defects in crystals are Frenkel (vacancy plus interstitial of the same type) and Schottky (balancing pairs of vacancies) types of defects. On oxide surfaces, the point defects can be cation or anion vacancies or adatoms. Measurements of the electronic structure of a variety of oxide surfaces have shown that the predominant type of defect formed when samples are heated are oxygen vacancies.16 Hence, most of the surface models of... 

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