Synthesis and electrical property of antimony-doped tin oxide powders with barite matrix

Antimony-doped tin oxide (Sb-SnO2) nanoparticles were deposited on barite (BaSO4) to produce Sb-SnO2/barite (SSB) composite conductive powders via a chemical liquid deposition method. Effects of hydrolysis temperature, pH value, percentage of barite, doping concentration of antimony, calcination temperature and time on the resistivity of the SSB composite powder were primarily investigated. SSB powders with resistivity of less than 1.5 × 103 Ω cm can be successfully obtained under the optimum experimental parameters. The samples were characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The precursors of Sb-SnO2 powder were researched by means of thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in order to discuss the mechanism of hydrolysis reaction.