Aluminium grain boundary diffusion in polycrystalline mullite ceramics

Aluminium tracer diffusivities were measured in polycrystalline mullite. The artificial aluminium isotope ²⁶Al was used as tracer isotope. An advanced preparation technique for the ²⁶Al₂O₃ tracer source allowed to apply secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) in order to analyse ²⁶Al depth distributions in the polycrystalline material. Pre-exponential factors and activation enthalpies were determined for compositions of 78 wt.% Al₂O₃, 22 wt.% SiO₂ (high-alumina material) and of 72 wt.% Al₂O₃, 28 wt.% SiO₂ (low-alumina material), respectively. A strong dependence of the ²⁶Al grain boundary diffusivity on the composition is observed. The results are discussed in comparison to previous data on grain boundary diffusivities of oxygen in mullite samples from the same batch. Dedicated to Prof. Hermann Schmalzried on the occasion of his 75th birthday.