Grain shrinkage driven by surface and grain boundary energy in Ba5Nb4O15 powder

The shrinkage and disappearance of small Ba5Nb4O15 grains in a large grain matrix at 1133 K observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), included grain volume and boundary shrinkage. Rate equations for these processes were formulated based on the concept that total excess free energy directly stimulates material transport in volume, surface, or grain boundary diffusion. Based on these equations, grain vanishing was simulated and it was found that volume diffusion combined with boundary diffusion occurred, and high grain boundary energy and low grain boundary diffusivity made grains vanish while maintaining a truncated spherical shape.