Micostructure and Electrical Property of Semiconducting Tin Oxide Glaze

The objective of present investigation was to understand the relationships between the microstructure and electrical properties of semiconducting Sb doped SnO2 glaze as a functional material. High electrical conduction is attributed to the three dimensional conduction network by highly conductive solution layers formed in the vicinity of undissolved semiconducting SnO2 particle surfaces. Crystalline SnO2 particles smaller than 8nm in diameter, responsible for high conductivity, were found in the solution layer with a high resolution TEM. A model experiment with the semiconducting SnO2-glass diffusion couple showed that the conductivity changed non-linearly with distance from the surface of an undissolved semiconducting SnO2 particle into the matrix region.