Abstract
This work was undertaken to survey methods for improvement in the electrical properties of SnO2-glass composites. Glass composites with different particle dispersions of SnO2 and RuO2 in glass matrices were prepared under the various mixing conditions of starting materials. The effects of RuO2/SnO2 ratios and the dispersion state of both conductive particles in the glass matrices were investigated on the electrical properties of the glass composites. The resistivity and the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the glass composite decreased and increased, respectively, with increasing RuO2 content. The glass composite with TCR close to zero was obtained at RuO2/SnO2=25/25(vol%). In this case, the electrical properties of the glass composites were independent of the mixing conditions of the starting materials, i.e. the particle dispersions of RuO2 and SnO2 in the glass matrices. On the other hand, the electrical properties of the samples with small RuO2 or SnO2 content largely depended on the dispersion state of both conductive particles in the glass matrices. In the glass composites with inhomogeneous particle dispersions, the contributions of miner components to the electrical properties of the glass composites were remarkable. In this case, the compensating effect between SnO2 and RuO2 effectively appeared on the electrical properties, and thus the glass composites showed smaller temperature dependence of resistance than that of the sample with homogeneous particle dispersions.
