The Impact of Sintering Temperature on the Microstructure and Electrical Characteristics of Varistor Ceramics Containing V2O5-doped ZnO-Bi2O3-Sb2O3 and MnO2 Additives
Abstract
Abstract: This study explores the enhancement of ZnO varistor ceramics as voltage surge protectors for electronic components by incorporating various metal oxides, including Bi2O3, as varistor-forming agents. The investigation focuses on the impact of V2O5 doping in ZnO-Bi2O3-Sb2O3-MnO2 varistor ceramics to achieve maximum nonlinearity and low leakage current. A mixture of powdered materials (98.1 mol% ZnO, 0.7 mol% Bi2O3, 0.3 mol% Sb2O3, 0.7 mol% MnO2, and x mol% V2O5) underwent a 24-hour ball milling process, followed by drying and grounding. The resulting powder was uniaxially pressed into 10 mm diameter, 1 cm thick disks, and then sintered at 1240 °C for 4 hours, with a heating and cooling rate of 5°C/min for all compositions. Electrical and microstructural properties were examined for varying V2O5 doping levels (x = 0.0 to 0.6 mol%) in ZnO-Bi2O3-Sb2O3 and MnO2 varistor ceramics. The maximum barrier height observed was 0.68 eV, corresponding to the highest nonlinearity coefficient of 11.25. Minimal leakage current, approximately 1×10-4 mA/cm2, was observed for doping levels of 0, 0.08, 0.20, 0.40, and 0.60 mol%. The highest relative density of the prepared ceramics was 91.31% and 87.23% for ceramics with 0.2 and 0.4 mol% content of doping, respectively, this approached the theoretical density of ZnO (5.78 g/cm3). Microstructural features were examined using SEM attached with EDX. The XRD patterns revealed primary phases of ZnO, with secondary phases including ZnSb2O4, Zn7Sb2O12, MnVO3, BiVO4, and Zn3(V4)2 polymorphs.
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