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Updated: Jan 31, 2026

Atom Probe Tomography Studies on the CuIn,GaSe2 Grain Boundaries
Published on: April 22, 2013
Direct in situ detection of grain boundary reduction in nanocrystalline ceria
Claire M Donahue1, Qing Ma2, Sossina M Haile1
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA. sossina.haile@northwestern.edu.
Abstract:
Enrichment of the reduced Ce3+ species near grain boundaries in ceria is a widely established phenomenon which has previously been observed in ex situ experiments. Here, in situ X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) is employed to detect and quantify grain boundary reduction under device-relevant conditions. Single-crystal and dense nanocrystalline films of undoped ceria were characterized by Ce L3 XANES at high temperatures (615-845 °C) in humidified hydrogen. Nanocrystalline ceria (30-40 nm mean grain sizes) exhibited large enhancements in Ce3+ concentration, from 2.0× to 11× relative to bulk ceria. Implications for grain boundary reduction thermodynamics and anticipated conductivity enhancements are discussed.
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