About this Research Topic
The minerals fluorite and pyrochlore can be thought of as two ends of a continuum that encompass other variations such as defect fluorite. Materials with a fluorite structure are used in a wide range of applications, one reason being its ability to incorporate structural disorder. This is due to the fact that a cubic structure is the simplest in terms of symmetry and so is capable of accommodating certain amounts of variation in occupancy of atomic positions over a range of different crystallographic sites. It is this versatility that has seen these humble cubic structures applied to all manner of uses ranging from UO2 fuel in a nuclear reactor to fuel cell anodes Pb2Ru2O7. Publications on this topic are in the thousands, but often there is a common thread: the order or disorder in those systems.
It is the goal of this Research Topic to give an overview of what has traditionally been thought to be disorder, and to highlight the newest discoveries as well as the path forward in this research area. Therefore, this Research Topic should be thought of as the point of reference for ordered and disordered cubic systems, with the aim of clarifying these big questions in this area and to be used as a cornerstone that may lead to new paths of discovery.
The scope of the Research Topic encompasses fluorites, defect fluorites, and pyrochlores. We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review, and Perspective articles, in themes including, but not limited, to:
• the effect of order or disorder induced by external means (irradiation, ball milling, pressure, and temperature)
• the effect of order or disorder induced internally (changes in chemical composition and stoichiometry)
• studies that advance the understanding of disorder occurring in those systems and the effect it has on the structure and properties
We welcome experimental and modelling studies, as well as combination of the two. Research of an incremental nature, such as replacement of a cation with another, followed by subsequent measurements intended to define the current boundaries, will be considered as outside the scope of this Research Topic.
It is the goal of this Research Topic to give an overview of what has traditionally been thought to be disorder, and to highlight the newest discoveries as well as the path forward in this research area. Therefore, this Research Topic should be thought of as the point of reference for ordered and disordered cubic systems, with the aim of clarifying these big questions in this area and to be used as a cornerstone that may lead to new paths of discovery.
The scope of the Research Topic encompasses fluorites, defect fluorites, and pyrochlores. We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review, and Perspective articles, in themes including, but not limited, to:
• the effect of order or disorder induced by external means (irradiation, ball milling, pressure, and temperature)
• the effect of order or disorder induced internally (changes in chemical composition and stoichiometry)
• studies that advance the understanding of disorder occurring in those systems and the effect it has on the structure and properties
We welcome experimental and modelling studies, as well as combination of the two. Research of an incremental nature, such as replacement of a cation with another, followed by subsequent measurements intended to define the current boundaries, will be considered as outside the scope of this Research Topic.
Keywords: fluorite, defect fluorite, pyrochlore, disorder, complex oxides
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
