A monte carlo study of sodium diffusion in β-alumina

Abstract

The calculation by SaAo and Kikuchi (1971) of the sodium tracer diffusion coefficient in β-alumina using the path probability method is assessed using a Monte Carlo method. Two interpenetrating non-equivalent triangular sub-lattices make up the honeycomb lattice on which sodium ions are distributed subject to nearest neighbour repulsion. The Monte Carlo results for the vacancy availability factor and the effective jump frequency factor are in excellent agreement with the calculations of Sato and Kikuchi (1971). Results for the tracer correlation factor differ significantly because of the limitations of the pair-approximation to the path probability method.