Microstructure and Electrical Properties of ZnO-Pr₆O₁₁-Dy₂O₃-Based Varistor Ceramics Doped with La₂O₃

ZnO-Pr6O11-Dy2O3-based varistor ceramics doped with 0~1.5 mol% La2O3 were fabricated by a conventional ceramic method. All the samples were sintered at 1350 oC
for 2 h. The phase composition and microstructure of the ceramic samples have been investigated by XRD, SEM and EDS. The results of SEM micrographs indicated that the La2O3 additives can promote ZnO grain’s growth, and the rare earth elements dispersed mainly in the intergranular phase observed by EDS. The electrical properties of the samples determined by the V-I curves revealed that the breakdown voltage of samples decreases from 508 V/mm to about 100 V/mm with the increase of La2O3, and the nonlinear exponent also decreases from 20.2 to 13.2. The typical leakage current is about 10.2 μA for the sample doped with 0.5 mol% La2O3.