Cation diffusion in calcia stabilized zirconia (CSZ)

Tracer diffusivities of both cations in single crystalline calcia stabilized cubic zirconia (11 and 17mol% CaO) were measured in the temperature range 1130 degrees C < T < 1460 degrees C. The calcium tracer diffusion is more than 10 times faster than the zirconium tracer diffusion. For both elements, the activation energy of tracer diffusion varies between 5.1 and 5.6eV. The pre-exponential factors are higher than in the case of yttria stabilized zirconia (10(2)-10(3) cm(2) s(-1) as compared to 1-10 cm(2) s(-1)). There is no significant dependency of the cation diffusivity on the stabilizer content, which indicates a diffusion mechanism via vacancy clusters (V-Zr(4/), 2V(O)(2.))(x).