Oxygen nonstoichiometry and transport properties of strontium substituted lanthanum cobaltite

Oxygen nonstoichiometry, structure and transport properties of the two compositions (La0.6Sr0.4)0.99CoO3−δ (LSC40) and La0.85Sr0.15CoO3−δ (LSC15) were measured. It was found that the oxygen nonstoichiometry as a function of the temperature and oxygen partial pressure could be described using the itinerant electron model. The electrical conductivity, σ, of the materials is high (σ > 500 S cm− 1) in the measured temperature range (650–1000 °C) and oxygen partial pressure range (0.209–10− 4 atm). At 900 °C the electrical conductivity is 1365 and 1491 S cm− 1 in air for LSC40 and LSC15, respectively. A linear correlation between the electrical conductivity and the oxygen vacancy concentration was found for both samples. The mobility of the electron-holes was inversely proportional with the absolute temperature indicating a metallic type conductivity for LSC40. Using electrical conductivity relaxation the chemical diffusion coefficient of oxygen was determined. It was found that accurate values of the chemical diffusion coefficient could only be obtained using a sample with a porous surface coating. The porous surface coating increased the surface exchange reaction thereby unmasking the chemical diffusion coefficient. The ionic conductivity deduced from electrical conductivity relaxation was determined to be 0.45 S cm− 1 and 0.01 S cm− 1 at 1000 and 650 °C, respectively. The activation energy for the ionic conductivity at a constant vacancy concentration (δ = 0.125) was found to be 0.90 eV.