Structural properties and the fluorite–pyrochlore phase transition in La2Zr2O7: The role of oxygen to induce local disordered states.

Structural and functional applications involving La 2 Zr 2 O 7 exploit the data on fluorite to pyrochlore phase transition, because of the strong dependence on the physical properties of the system with its phase stability. Though studied for decades, the origin of fluorite to pyrochlore phase transition in La 2 Zr 2 O 7 is still not well understood. In this article, we confirm the presence of a fluorite to pyrochlore phase transition in La 2 Zr 2 O 7 system in the temperature range 1000–1450 °C. The phase transition along with the associated structural properties is investigated with the help La 2 Zr 2 O 7 samples calcined at different temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]