Cold sintering ZnO based varistor ceramics with controlled grain growth to realize superior breakdown electric field

Controlling the grain growth and grain boundary morphology is of great importance in the manipulation of electrical properties of electro-ceramics. However, it has been a challenge to achieve dense varistor ceramics with grain sizes in submicrons and nanometers using conventional thermal sintering at high temperatures. Here we present a strategy to fabricate dense ZnO based ceramics with controlled grain growth and thin grain boundaries using cold sintering process (CSP). With CSP, the sintering temperature of ZnO based ceramics dramatically drops from 1100 °C to 300 °C. The Bi2O3, Mn2O3, and CoO dopants suppress the grain growth of ZnO under CSP conditions, and Bi-rich intergranular films (2−5 nm) can be observed along grain boundaries. The cold sintered ZnO-Bi2O3-Mn2O3-CoO ceramic shows a non-linear coefficient of 33.5, and a superior breakdown electric field of 3550 V/mm. This work thus demonstrates that CSP is a promising technique for designing new submicron-/nano-ceramics with superior performances.

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Work Title Cold sintering ZnO based varistor ceramics with controlled grain growth to realize superior breakdown electric field
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Xuetong Zhao
  2. Jie Liang
  3. Jianjie Sun
  4. Jing Guo
  5. Sinan Dursun
  6. Ke Wang
  7. Clive A. Randall
Keyword
  1. Varistors
  2. Cold sintering
  3. Submicron-/nano-ceramics
  4. Grain boundaries
  5. High breakdown field
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Journal of the European Ceramic Society
Publication Date October 23, 2020
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2020.09.023
Deposited August 02, 2022

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Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added Zhao_X-JECS-Jan2021.pdf
  • Added Creator Xuetong Zhao
  • Added Creator Jie Liang
  • Added Creator Jianjie Sun
  • Added Creator Jing Guo
  • Added Creator Sinan Dursun
  • Added Creator Ke Wang
  • Added Creator Clive A. Randall
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publication Date Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Varistors, Cold sintering, Submicron-/nano-ceramics, Grain boundaries, High breakdown field
    Publication Date
    • 2021-01-01
    • 2020-10-23
  • Updated