SnO₂ Dense Ceramic Microwave Sintered with Low Resistivity

Leinig Antonio Perazolli, Gisane Gasparotto, Natalia Jaomaci, Miguel Ruiz, Maria Aparecida Zaghete Bertochi, Cesar Renato Foschini, Ederson Carlos Aguiar, José Arara Varela

Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Electrochemistry and Ceramics—LIEC, Institute of Chemistry, Paulista State University “Júlio Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), S?o Paulo, Brasil.

DOI: 10.4236/msa.2012.35040                

Abstract

The Hall-Héroult process is used for alumina reduction by the use of graphite anodes even though it involves a high emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and several other organic compounds. Proposals have been made aiming at substituting graphite for a single-phase SnO₂-based ceramic with low resistivity and chemical resistance to cryolite, which is characterized as an inconsumable anode, reducing pollutant emissions. To this end, a wide range of studies were carried out on SnO₂-based ceramics modified with ZnO as a densification aid doped with the promoters of electrical conductivity such as Nb₂O₅, Al₂O₃ and Sb₂O₃ through a mixture of oxides and hybrid sintering in a microwave oven. The pressed pellets were sintered in a microwave oven up to 1050℃ under a constant heating rate of 10℃/min. After sintering, the density was determined by the Archimedes method, the phases were then characterized by X-ray diffraction, the microstructure and chemical composition resulting from the sintered SnO₂-based ceramics were also investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) coupled with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and the electrical properties were determined by the measurements of the electric field x current density. A single-phase ceramic was obtained with a relative density of above 90% and electrical resistivity of 6.1 Ω·cm at room temperature. The ceramics obtained in this study could be a potential candidate as an inconsumable anode to replace the current fused coke used in the reduction of alumina.

Keywords

Tin Oxide; Anodic Electrode; Inconsumable Anode; Microwave Sintering; Electrical Resistivity

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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