Thermal and electric conductivity of near-zero thermal expansion ZrW₂O₈/ZrO₂ composites

Abstract

In this work, the microstructure, thermal and electric conductivity properties of near-zero thermal expansion ZrW₂O₈/ZrO₂ and Al₂O₃ added ZrW₂O₈/ZrO₂ composites were studied. Both the two composites exhibit very low thermal conductivity and the thermal conductivity decreases slightly as the temperature increases. The electric conductivity of the two composites increases with the increasing of the measurement temperature. The Al₂O₃ added ZrW₂O₈/ZrO₂ composite has higher thermal and electric conductivity than ZrW₂O₈/ZrO₂ composite. The most important factor which causes the difference of the thermal and electric conductivity of the composites is the porosity.