Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Oxygen grain boundary diffusion has been studied in low energy (∑5, ∑13) and high energy (asymmetric 16° tilt) MgO grain boundaries. Enhanced diffusion of oxygen was observed in all boundaries, but more so in the general, high energy boundary, by 1 - 2 orders of magnitude. This supports the theory that the better the atomic registry between the adjoining grains the lower the diffusivities in the grain boundary. Also the activation energies for bulk and grain boundary diffusion (in the ∑13 boundaries) were found to be equal to within experimental error. (≈ 3.9eV)