Modelling of diffusion and conductivity relaxation of oxide ceramics

Abstract A two-dimensional square grain model has been applied to simulate simultaneously the diffusion process and relaxation of the dc conduction of polycrystalline oxide materials due to a sudden change of the oxygen partial pressure of the surrounding gas phase. The numerical calculations are performed by employing the finite element approach. The grains are squares of equal side length (average grain size) and the grain boundaries may consist of thin slabs of uniform thickness. An additional (space charge) layer adjacent to the grain boundary cores (thin slabs) either blocking (depletion layer) or highly conductive for electronic charge carriers may surround the grains. The electronic transport number of the mixed ionic-electronic conducting oxide ceramics may be close to unity (predominant electronic conduction). If the chemical diffusion coefficient of the neutral mobile component (oxygen) of the grain boundary core regions is assumed to be higher by many orders of magnitude than that in the bulk, the simulated relaxation curves for mass transport (diffusion) and dc conduction can deviate remarkably from each other. Deviations between the relaxation of mass transport and dc conduction are found in the case of considerably different electronic conductivities of grain boundary core regions, space charge layers, and bulk. On the contrary, the relaxation curves of mass transport and electronic conductivity are in perfect coincidence, when either effective medium diffusion occurs or the effective conductivity is unaffected by the individual conductivities of core regions and possible space charge layers, i.e. the grain boundary resistivity is negligible.