A Study of Structural and Thermal Properties of a Novel Doped Perovskite-Type Oxide SrFe0.6Cu0.3Mo0.1O3-δ

Journal article, 2026

In this study, a novel perovskite-type oxide SrFe0.6Cu0.3Mo0.1O3-delta was synthesized via a conventional solidstate reaction route and comprehensively characterized using neutron powder diffraction (NPD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermal analysis. The application of NPD enabled precise determination of the atomic structure and differentiation between cations with similar atomic numbers. Rietveld refinement of the NPD data confirmed the formation of a single-phase cubic perovskite with the space group Pm-3m (no. 221) and a lattice parameter of a = b = c = 3.8997(1) & Aring;. SEM images revealed a highly porous, intercon-nected microstructure with uniform elemental distribution, while thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) demonstrated a two-step oxygen loss up to 1000 degrees C, confirming excellent thermal stability. The oxide exhibited a low thermal conductivity of 1.986 W & centerdot;m-1 & centerdot;K-1 at 900 degrees C, attributed to enhanced phonon scattering induced by Cu and Mo co-doping and lattice disorder. These findings indicate that controlled B-site co-doping can effectively tailor defect chemistry and phonon transport, resulting in materials with reduced thermal conductivity and improved structural integrity. Therefore, SrFe0.6Cu0.3Mo0.1O3-delta shows great potential for high-temperature energy conversion applications, including thermoelectric devices and solid oxide fuel cells.