Electrical Properties of ZnO doped Yttria Stabilized Zirconia

Abstract

In this work, density, microstructure and electrical property were investigated on sintered samples of 8 mol % yttria stabilized zirconia and samples doped ZnO. 8 mol% yttria was used to stabilize cubic zirconia phase by co-precipitation method. The synthesized powders were doped with variable concentration of ZnO (0.5, 1, and 1.5 molar) by normal grinding and mixing which is followed by calcination. The Calcined powders have been pelletized by uniaxial pressing, and were sintered at different temperatures.
X-Ray diffraction was used for characterization and phase determination of samples. Scanning electron microscopy analysis was carried out to investigate the grain morphology, grain size, and pores distribution. Apparent porosity and bulk density was calculated. Finally impedance spectroscopy of sintered samples was done to determine the conductivity model, Impedance/conductivity values, and there variation with temperature. It was observed that addition of ZnO enhances the densification and promotes grain growth. Also better electrical conductivity was observed for some concentration of ZnO doping. Various conductivity models have been considered, mechanism related to densification and Grain boundary conductivity was discussed.