Synthesis of SnO2 by chemical routes and its use in varistors production

Abstract Tin oxide, SnO 2 , is a very used compound in industry and one of its uses is as varistor. For the current requirements of the technology is necessary a strict control of the chemical purity and the particle size of the raw material; for that reason the great interest that exists at the moment to develop synthesis methods that allow to get these requirements. In this work, ceramic powders of the Sn–Co–Nb–Ti–Al system using the controlled precipitation and polymeric precursor (Pechini) methods were synthesized. The raw material obtained was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal analysis (DTA/TG) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The sintering samples shown a good varistor behavior with non-linear coefficient ( α ) values ∼22, and E r 2083 V/cm 2 .