Oxygen diffusion coefficients were determined in a commercial ZnO-based varistor by means of the gas-solid exchange method using 18O as the oxygen tracer. The diffusion annealing was performed at 892, 942, 992 and 1092C, in an Ar +18O2 atmosphere under an oxygen partial pressure of 0.2atm. After the diffusion annealing, the 18O diffusion profiles were established by secondary ion mass spectrometry. The results showed an increase of the oxygen diffusion in the varistor, both in bulk and in grain boundaries, when compared to the oxygen diffusion in undoped ZnO. The increase of the oxygen bulk diffusion in the varistor agreed with an interstitial mechanism for the oxygen diffusion. The results also showed that the grain boundary was a fast path for the oxygen diffusion in the varistor. However, the oxygen diffusion in the grain boundaries of the varistor seems to depend on several chemical and microstructural parameters and did not allow a simple explanation.

First Study of Oxygen Diffusion in a ZnO- Based Commercial Varistor. Sabioni, A.C.S., Daniel, A.M.J.M., Metz, R., Huntz, A.M., Jomard, F.: Defect and Diffusion Forum, 2009, 289-292, 339-45