Indium Doping in Barium Cerate: the Relation between Local Symmetry and the Formation and Mobility of Protonic Defects

The solid solution series Ba(In,Ce)O3-ä has been investigated with respect to structure, formation, and mobility of protonic defects. Compared to the limited solubility of Y2O3 in BaCeO3 and BaZrO3, the complete solubility of In2O3 is suggested to reflect a relation between absolute hardness of the dopant and the ease of insertion into the hosting lattices. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) was used to probe the local environment of In3+ in barium cerate: in the surroundings of the dopant, the orthorhombic structure is strongly modified, resulting in an increase of local symmetry. The InO6 octahedra are very regular, and there is no indication for any defect clustering. This …