Overview

Project B05 has the overarching aim to determine and understand the space-charge potential at grain boundaries in BaTiO3 ceramics by studying ion transport across and along these interfaces. The space-charge potential is determined for specifically conditioned ceramics by means of impedance spectroscopy, and by means of a new, complementary approach: the characterization of fast cation diffusion along grain-boundaries in BaTiO3 ceramics using Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) analysis. The project thus also yields cation diffusion data, information that is necessary for the analysis and simulation of grain-growth, sintering and dopant-accumulation phenomena.