Comparative impedance analysis of cold sintered and conventionally sintered ZnO-BaTiO 3 composite

In the present work, focusing on ZnO-BaTiO 3 composite, we did a comparative study of cold sintered (400 MPa, 300 °C for 1 h dwell time) and conventionally sintered (1100 °C for 1 h dwell time) samples. Impedance analysis conducted across a temperature range of 25–250 °C and a frequency range of 100 Hz to 1 M Hz, revealed higher grain boundary resistance and space charge in cold sintered samples. Activation energy for alternating conduction mechanism for cold sintered samples (0.22 eV) was calculated to be comparable to that of conventionally sintered samples (0.18 eV). The distinct role of cold sintered samples was explained by the presence of possible charged defects at their grain boundaries.