High-temperature X-ray powder diffraction study of the tetragonal-cubic phase transition in nanocrystalline, compositionally homogeneous ZrO2-CeO2 solid solutions

L.M. ACUÑA; R.O. FUENTES; D.G. LAMAS; I.O. FÁBREGAS; N.E. WALSÖE DE RECA; A.F. CRAIEVICH

POWDER DIFFRACTION

American Institute of Physics-International Centre for Diffraction Data

Año: 2008 vol. 23 p. 70 - 74

0885-7156

Crystal structure of compositionally homogeneous, nanocrystalline ZrO2-CeO2 solutions wasinvestigated by X-ray powder diffraction as a function of temperature for compositions between 50 and 65 mol % CeO2. ZrO2-50 and 60 mol % CeO2 solid solutions, which exhibit the t´-form of the tetragonal phase at room temperature, transform into the cubic phase in two steps: t´-to-t" followed by t"-to-cubic. But the ZrO2-65 mol % CeO2, which exhibits the t"-form, transforms directly to the cubic phase. The results suggest that t´-to-t" transition is of first order, but t"-to-cubic seems to be of second order.