What is it about?
This perspective surveys the structural peculiarities, interesting properties (electrical, thermal and magnetic), and responses to extreme environments, of a small group of truly amazing materials, pyrochlore-type lanthanide titanates and zirconates
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Why is it important?
The pyrochlore structure offers a unique platform to explore the interplay of chemical composition, defect chemistry, and material properties. Pyrochlore-type materials such as Ln2Ti2O7 and Ln2Zr2O7 represent an important class due to magnetic geometrical frustration, and they show promise for applications in energy conversion and storage devices, as well as thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). These materials can incorporate actinides into solid solutions, enduring radiation exposure while maintaining structural integrity, which is crucial for long-term immobilization and disposal of radioactive waste from nuclear programs. Some properties are exhibited simultaneously, opening up new application avenues. Recent experimental findings reveal a more intricate short-range structure than previously thought, including ordered domains like the orthorhombic weberite-type structure. Short- and long-range structures appear uncoupled across different scales and temperatures, persisting even in well-ordered samples. Understanding order/disorder processes and the impact of structural length scales on their properties is crucial.
Perspectives
Pyrochlore-type oxides have fascinated me for quite some time, and writing this paper has allowed me to fulfill a longstanding dream. I have greatly enjoyed exchanging ideas and learning from my co-authors, all of whom are renowned international experts in the various aspects covered in this review. I hope many interested colleagues will find it engaging and that it will assist them in developing their own research projects.
ANTONIO FUENTES
Cinvestav Unidad Saltillo
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Pyrochlore-type lanthanide titanates and zirconates: Synthesis, structural peculiarities, and properties, Applied Physics Reviews, June 2024, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/5.0192415.
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