A novel method to regulate the density of BaTiO3 ceramics for positive temperature coefficient resistance via tape casting

BaTiO₃ ceramics for positive temperature coefficient resistance (PTCR) were fabricated via tape casting technique and reduction/reoxidation process. A novel method was used to regulate the density of the ceramics via changing binder amount in tape casting green bodies. The influences of different amounts of the binder on density, electrical properties, and microstructure of ceramics were investigated. The BaTiO₃ ceramic monolith without internal electrodes with an addition of binder of 0.84 wt% was sintered in reducing atmosphere at 1150 °C and reoxidized at 800 °C for 1 h showed a resistivity of 56 Ω·cm and a PTCR jump about 3.2 orders of magnitude. The green and sintered density of the samples decreased with the increasing binder amount. The room temperature resistivity increased monotonically with the binder amount. However, the correlation of the PTCR jump with binder amount showed a contrary tendency. These electrical properties can be explained by the Jonker model. The influences of sintering temperature on the density of BaTiO₃ ceramics with different binder amount were also discussed. In addition to the ceramic monoliths without internal electrodes, multilayer elements with internal electrodes were also prepared.