Cobalt Doping Effects on the Mechanical and Electrical Parameters of Bi1.5Zn0.92Nb1.5O6.92 Solid Solution

The cobalt doping effects on the lattice constant, strain, grain size, dislocation density and electrical conduction are investigated by means of X-ray diffraction and electrical resistivity measurements on the Bi1.5Zn0.92Nb1.5-xCoxO6.92-x (x=0.03-0.20) ceramics, respectively. Increasing cobalt content sharply increases compressing strain and dislocation density and decreases both the lattice constant and the grain size of the pyrochlore. At a doping content of 0.05 new minor phase of ZnO appears. The ZnO grains increase with increasing cobalt content. When the cobalt doping is repeated in accordance with the formula Bi1.5Zn0.92Nb1.5-xCoxO6.92-x, a single phase pyrochlore is obtained with cobalt content up to 0.10. The electrical resistivity analysis reflects increasing activation energy with increasing cobalt content. The cobalt creates an impurity level in the energy gap of the pyrochlore that shifts towards the mid gap converting the extrinsic nature of conductivity to intrinsic at a cobalt content of 0.10.