One of the greatest challenges of ceramic processing is to obtain a stable and homogeneous dispersion of particles when the components present different physical and chemical characteristics, such as density, specific surface area, size distribution and isoelectric point (iep). The ZnO varistor composition contains 7 different oxides (additives: Bi2O3, Sb2O3, Co3O4, Mn2O3, NiO, and Cr2O3) and the stability of the aqueous dispersion strongly depends on the specific surface area, the iep and the dispersant choice. In this work we evaluated the ammonium polyacrylate (PAA-NH4) as a dispersant to determine the influence of the different oxides on the processing. The oxides have been characterized by electrophoretic mobility, particle size distribution and specific surface area. Some of varistor oxides additives present isoelectric point (iep) distinct from the ZnO (iep = 9,4). Among them, Sb2O3 (iep = 3.4) and Cr2O3 (iep = 4.4) have been considered. This difference between the ZnO and these additives promotes a change in the pH dispersion that could compromise the dispersion stability.
varistor; ZnO; surface physical-chemistry; electrosteric stabilization; isotherm of adsorption
