Abstract
The structure and properties of silver β- and β″-aluminas have been investigated by high resolution electron microscopy at 200 and 500kV. Both materials exhibited the loss of silver-containing conduction planes under the influence of the electron beam, causing the structure to collapse and shear, forming broad defect spinel blocks. The structure of these defects in silver β″-alumina was investigated and a model for the atomic arrangement within the defects proposed. It was found that the electron beam caused extrusion of silver from both materials by two separate mechanisms; these mechanisms may shed light on the inter-granular resistivity in β-alumina type materials and on the formation and propagation of cracks. The structure of the conduction planes in silver β-alumina was also studied, and samples of sodium β″-alumina ion-exchanged to different extents with silver were investigated.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 181-186 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Solid State Ionics |
| Volume | 9-10 |
| Issue number | PART 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1983 |
Funding
The Cambridge University 600kV High Resoluction Electron Microscope Project is supported by the Science and Engineering Research Council. Two of the authors (RH and AKP) thank the Science and Engineering Research Council and Chloride Silent Power Ltd for financial support. The specimens used in this study were supplied by the British Rail Technical Centre, Derby~ UK, (silver B''-alumina) and the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford, UK (silver 6-alumina).
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- General Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics