The Preparation, Structure and Electrical Conductivity of Ag-Doped La1-x-ySrxCuyMnO3-δ (0.05≤x≤0.4, y=0.1) Ceramics

Abstract

In this paper, we have presented a comprehensive study about the preparation, structure and electrical conductivity of Ag-doped La1-x-ySrxCuyMnO3-δ(0.05≤x≤0.4, y=0.1) ceramics. We first doped Ag into La1-x-ySrxCuyMnO3-δcompounds using a sol-gel method and then the gels were sintered at 1000°C by Muffle furnace. The structure variation was systematically characterized by the X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that that silver merged well into the lattice of La1-x-ySrxCuyMnO3-δand z at.% Ag-doped La1-x-ySrxCuyMnO3-δcompounds precipitated only in one phase. As indicated by the conventional four-probe method and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopic (DRS), the addition of Ag was dramatically effective in enhancing the electrical conductivity, whereas a slight effect of the addition of Ag on UV-Vis diffuse reflection was observed. Furthermore, the electrical conductivity increased with the enhanced sintering temperature within the temperature of 1000 °C, which proved that the dominant mechanism of the conductivity of Ag-doped ceramics was hole hopping transfer.