Effect of grain boundaries in La_0.84Sr_0.16CoO_3- on oxygen diffusivity and surface exchange kinetics

The single crystal and polycrystalline specimens of La0.84Sr0.16CoO3-δ oxide were synthesized and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction analysis, energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis, the electron backscatter diffraction technique, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A thin slab was prepared from the grown single crystal with its surface corresponding to the (110) plane. The kinetics of the oxygen exchange between the gas phase and a single crystal and a polycrystalline specimen was studied by means of 16O/18O oxygen isotope exchange at T = 750-850 °C and PO2 = 5.3 × 10-3-2.2 × 10-2 atm. Temperature dependencies of the oxygen heterogeneous exchange rate, the oxygen dissociative adsorption and incorporation rates, and oxygen diffusion coefficients were obtained. The relationship between the crystallographic orientation of oxides and the kinetic parameters of oxides has been established. Correlations between the surface state and the rates of individual stages of oxygen exchange as well as oxygen diffusion pathways in the single crystal compared with those in the polycrystalline specimen are considered.