Effect of adding CuO on electrical conductivity of 10NiO-NiFe_2O_4 composite ceramics

The CuO doped 10NiO-NiFe2O4 composite ceramics were prepared with the cold isostatic pressing-sintering process,the effects of CuO content on the phase composition,microstructure,density and electrical conductivity of 10NiO-NiFe2O4 composite ceramics were studied.The results show that the samples are mainly consisted of NiO,Cu and NiFe2O4 when content of CuO is 0-12.5%(mass fraction),CuO is decomposed and forms low melting point phase Cu,which is important to accelerate the sintering densification.When sintered at 1473K,the sample doped with 8.75% CuO relatively have the maximum relative density(94.43%),which increases 18.16% compared with the undoped samples.Moreover,when the CuO content is 4%,the sample of 10NiO-NiFe2O4 composite ceramics relatively have the maximum electrical conductivity(5.169S/cm),which is 5 times compared with the undoped samples.