Abstract
Via in situ electrical property measurements (conductivity, Seebeck coefficient) over the temperature range 500–800 °C and oxygen partial pressure range 10−4-1 atm, the equilibrium transport properties and stability range of YBa2Cu4O8 were determined. YBa2Cu4O8 behaves like the intrinsically mixed-valent compound, magnetite (Fe3O4), with small variations in electrical properties with changes in oxygen partial pressure. The decomposition boundary to YBa2Cu3O6+y (or YBa2Cu3.5O7.5±z) and CuO occurs at log(po2, atm) = −1.24 × 104/T(K) + 11.01(773 ⋚ T(K) ⋚ 1073).