Electrical properties of iron doped apatite-type lanthanum silicates

The effect of Fe doping on the electrical properties of lanthanum silicates was investigated. The apatite-type lanthanum silicates La10Si6−xFexO27−x/2 (x=0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) were synthesized via sol-gel process. The unit cell volume increased with Fe doping because the ionic radius of Fe3+ ion is larger than that of Si4+ ion. The conductivities of La10Si6−xFexO27−x/2 first increased and then decreased with the increasing of Fe content. The increase of the conductivity might be attributed to the distortion of the cell lattice, which assisted the migration of the interstitial oxygen ions. The decrease of the conductivity might be caused by the lower concentration of interstitial oxygen ions. The optimum Fe doping content in lanthanum silicates was 0.6. La10Si5.4Fe0.6O26.7 exhibited the highest ionic conductivity of 2.712×10−2 S/cm at 800 °C. The dependence of conductivity on oxygen partial pressure p(O2) suggested that the conductivity of La10Si6−xFexO27−x/2 was mainly contributed by ionic conductivity.