Densification, Phase Composition, Microstructure and Properties of Spark Plasma Sintered La0.6Ce0.3Pr0.1B6 Bulks

This paper studied the densification, phase composition, microstructure and properties of polycrystalline La0.6Ce0.3Pr0.1B6 bulks prepared by SPS. The dense specimen (98.9 % in relative density) with the average grain size of 15.46 μm has been determined to be a CsCl-type single-phase substitutional solid solution without any impurities or other secondary phases. The homogenous elemental distributions of La, Ce and Pr have been confirmed by both microscale and nanoscale. The room temperature (RT) Vickers hardness (Hv), indentation fracture toughness (KIC) and flexure strength of the dense specimen have been measured to be 23.0 GPa, 2.04 MPa·m1/2 and 305.1 MPa, respectively. The Berkovich hardness (HB) and elastic modulus (E) of the dense specimen have been measured to be 30.0 GPa and 376.0 GPa, respectively, by nanoindentation tests at a maximum load of 40 mN. In comparison with the polycrystalline LaB6 bulk, the lower work function Φ of 2.64 eV evaluated by UPS and the larger thermionic emission current densities measured at the same operating condition suggest that the polycrystalline La0.6Ce0.3Pr0.1B6 bulk is a superior-performance thermionic cathode material.