Defect and transport properties of nanocrystalline CeO2-x

It is shown that unique defect thermodynamics and transport properties result for prides of a few nanometers crystallite size. Fully-dense CeO2-x, polycrystals of similar to 10 nm grain size were synthesized, and their electrical properties compared with those of samples coarsened from the same material. The nanocrystals showed reduced gain boundary resistance, 10(4) higher electronic conductivity, and less than one-half the heat of reduction of its coarse-grained counterpart. These properties are attributed to a dominant role of interfacial defect formation. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.