Electrical conductivity and non-stoichiometry in the (U,Gd)O2±x system

The isothermal electrical conductivity and oxygen potential of the (U,Gd)O2±x solid solution were measured in various oxygen partial pressure regions at 1200 °C and 1300 °C. The electrical conductivity gradually decreased with decreasing oxygen partial pressure even in the hypo-stoichiometric region. These findings were in contrast to the implication of a hypo-stoichiometry where the electrical conductivity is increased through the formation of oxygen vacancies. The (U1−yGdy)O2−y/2 was defined as a new stoichiometric composition to determine the relationship between the deviation of the oxygen composition from stoichiometry and oxygen partial pressure. The dependence of the new oxygen deviation, z in (U1−yGdy)O2−y/2+z, on the oxygen partial pressure corresponds to the dependence of the electrical conductivity, and thus a consistent defect structure model can be deduced from both the dependence curves. It suggests that the defect type is oxygen interstitial even below the oxygen composition of 2.