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We report the results of investigation on the mechanism of dark conductivity and dielectric relaxation of Bi12GeO20 single crystals and dense ceramics. Alternating current electric characterization was performed in the temperature interval from 30 °C up to 730 °C and frequencies from 1 Hz to 13 MHz. The samples presented ohmic behavior even at high temperatures, for applied potentials up to 2.2 V. The electric conductivity of single crystals was thermally activated, with potential barriers changing from 0.75±0.05 eV to 1.4±0.2 eV at 500 °C. The same conduction mechanisms were observed for ceramic samples, with activation energies of 0.9±0.1 eV and 1.5±0.1 eV for charge transport through grains and grain boundaries, respectively. These energy values were related to defects arising from substitutional Bi3++h+ in Ge4+ sites. In the ceramic samples, the higher resistivity of the grain interfaces leads to a Maxwell–Wagner polarization of the grain boundaries due to local charge rearrangement. As a result, the overall permittivity of ceramics was higher than that observed for single crystals at frequencies corresponding to the grain boundary response.

This paper reports a luminescence mechanism in Eu-doped BaAl2O4 excited with monochromatic X-rays (also known as X-ray excited optical luminescence - XEOL) from synchrotron radiation. The material was prepared via a proteic sol-gel methodology. The X-ray absorption near edge structures (XANES) at the Ba LIII- and Eu LIII-edges exhibit typical absorption spectra. XEOL spectra recorded in energy ranges, either around the Ba LIII- or Eu LIII-edges, showed important differences concerning the intensity of the Eu(2+) or Eu(3+) emission bands. Nevertheless, the total area under the XEOL spectra increases as the energy of the X-ray photons increases in both ranges (Ba LIII- and Eu LIII-edges).

Resumo O presente trabalho tem por objetivo caracterizar quatro argilas diferentes utilizadas na produção de revestimento cerâmico do tipo BIIb no Estado de Sergipe, Brasil. As argilas foram caracterizadas por difração de raios X, fluorescência de raios X, análise termogravimétrica, análise térmica diferencial, distribuição de tamanho de partículas, limites de Atterberg e dilatometria. A partir dos resultados obtidos foi possível detectar concentrações de calcita entre 1,1 e 13,7%, a depender da origem da argila. Esta informação é determinante para ajustes no ciclo de queima e previsão da energia mínima para que a sinterização ocorra. Foram produzidos corpos de prova por prensagem uniaxial em matriz retangular de 120 mm x 56 mm x 6 mm a uma pressão de 28 MPa, os quais foram queimados a 1130 oC com ciclo de queima de 23 min e patamar de 3 min. Os corpos de prova foram caracterizados quanto à absorção de água e módulo de ruptura à flexão, e sua microestrutura foi investigada por microscopia eletrônica de varredura. Através dos resultados, foi possível confirmar a correlação entre a formação de fase líquida e redução de porosidade nos corpos cerâmicos sinterizados a 1150 oC. As energias de ativação para o processo de sinterização foram determinadas a partir dos ensaios dilatométricos e os resultados mostraram que, à medida que se diminui o teor de calcário combinado com o aumento do teor de materiais fundentes, a sinterização ocorre em temperaturas mais baixas, resultando em menores gastos energéticos no processo de produção.

We have investigated the potential use of Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO) laser‐sintered ceramics in scintillator devices for radiation detection. Relevant results from the characterization made during the ceramic processing are presented, such as particle size analysis, X‐ray diffraction studies, and thermal analysis. Furthermore, we have compared the microstructure, relative density, thermoluminescent (TL) emission, and transparency degree of ceramic bodies sintered by CO2 laser heating with a reference set of ceramics sintered in an electrical furnace, and also with single crystals grown by the Czochralski technique. It was observed that the laser‐sintered BGO presented a relative density of 98% (±2%), better pore shrinkage, larger grains, and light transmission intensity 1.5 times higher than the BGO ceramics sintered in a furnace. The TL curves of all samples irradiated with UV and β−rays presented peaks at 75°, 102°, and 143°C, and provided strong indication that the intergrain defects have the same nature of the bulk defects and do not contribute with new traps in the temperature range studied. The relative areas of the total TL emission after β irradiation were 6,0:4,4:1 for the reference ceramic, laser sintered ceramic, and single crystal, respectively. For UV irradiated samples, this relation was 7,1:4,7:1. From these results, we have concluded that laser‐sintered ceramics have an amount of charge traps lower than the conventionally sintered BGO samples, thus having a higher radioluminescence yield.