Effect of Zn2SnO4 on the sintering and electrical properties of SnO2 ceramics

Abstract

SnO 2 ceramics with relative density about 98 % were obtained based on the addition of Zn 2 SnO 4 . The shrinkage of the ceramic samples increased sharply and got a saturated value about 13.3 % with doping more than 0.2 mol% Zn 2 SnO 4 . In the dielectric spectra, no relaxation peaks were observed and no deep trap states could be detected from 50-300°C and 40-5 MHz. Thus, the oxygen vacancies may not be necessary for the densification of SnO 2 ceramics during sintering process. For all the samples, nonlinear electrical properties were observed and the breakdown electrical fields are in good agreement with the barrier height. With increasing Zn 2 SnO 4 content, the activation energies E a for O − or O 2− adsorbed at grain boundary decreased and the doping of Zn 2 SnO 4 may be an important reason for the improve of grain conductivity and formation of Schottky barrier.