Stabilization of Bi2O3 Polymorphs with Sm2O3 Doping
The synthesis of bismuth trioxide polymorphs in the binary system (Bi2O3)1−x(Sm2O3)x in the range 0.01 ≤ x ≤ 0.1 has been investigated by adding small amounts of Sm2O3 into pure α- Bi2O3. The polymorphic changes, crystallographic properties, and Sm2O3 content dependence of the lattice parameters of the observed β- and δ-phases are reported. All the obtained solid solutions had nonstoichiometric compositions and nonstoichiometry increases with the increasing amount of mole % Sm2O3 addition. Because of nonstoichiometry, the produced phases have lattice defects. These defects are mainly oxygen ion vacancies.