Abstract
The nanocrystalline doped ZnO powder has been synthesized by solution combustion method using sucrose as fuel and zinc acetate as oxidant. The as-prepared nanopowders were characterized by XRD, showing particle size approximately 39 and 48 nm for fuel to oxidant ratio of 1:1 (stoichiometric)
and 2:1 (fuel rich). The powders were compacted and sintered for 9 hours. The sintered samples were characterized by SEM and XRD, showing the presence of spinel (Zn
7
Sb
2
O
12
) and pyroclore (Zn
2
Bi
3
Sb
3
O
14
) phases at intergranular
spacing. The phase distribution [spinel (Zn
7
Sb
2
O
12
), pyroclore (Zn
2
Bi
3
Sb
3
O
14
),
β
-Bi
2
O
3
, and
δ
-Bi
2
O
3
] was found to be more homogeneous in case of
samples obtained by adding the stoichiometric amount of fuel. The current–voltage (
J
–
E
) characterization shows the high non-linearity coefficient (
α
) ∼22 and break-down voltage (
V
B
) of ∼0.41 kV/mm for the fuel rich sample.