Highly nonlinear property and threshold voltage of Sc2O3 doped ZnO-Bi2O3-based varistor ceramics

A series of ZnO-Bi2O3-based varistor ceramics doped with 0–0.4 mol.% Sc2O3 were prepared by high-energy ball milling and sintered at temperatures between 1000 and 1150 °C. X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were applied to characterize the phases and microstructure of the varistor ceramics. A DC parameter instrument for varistor ceramics was applied to investigate the electronic properties and V-I characteristics. The results showed that there were no changes in crystal structure with Sc2O3-doped varistor ceramics and that the average size of ZnO grain increased first and then decreased. The best electronic characteristics of the varistor ceramics prepared by high-energy ball milling were found in 0.3 mol.% Sc2O3-doped ZnO-Bi2O3-based ceramics sintered at 1000 °C, which exhibited a threshold voltage of 821 V/mm, nonlinear coefficient of 62.1 and leakage current of 0.16 μA.