Electrical properties comparison of NTC thermistors prepared from nanopowders and in mixed oxide process

We have synthesized and studied the effect of cobalt doping on the electrical properties of NTC thermistors with the composition of NiCoxMn2−x O4 (x = 0.0, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6). The electrical properties of NTC thermistors prepared from nanopowders by gel auto-combustion and mixed oxides processes have been compared. The measurement results indicate that the fluctuations of B value in the samples made from nanopowders are smaller than that in the samples prepared using mixed oxides method. The electrical properties of these ceramics depend strongly on their grain size. The sintering time and temperature were chosen the same for the samples made from the powders prepared by the two methods. It was found that the samples made from nanopowders have smaller grain sizes.