Effect of ZrO2 on the structure, hardness and humidity sensing properties of TiO2-ZrO2 / Siti Nurul Shahmimie Sulaiman

The influence of ZrO2 on the structural, hardness and humidity sensing properties
of the TiO2 ceramics were investigated. The samples were prepared by the
conventional ceramic method. The samples were characterized on their structure,
hardness and humidity sensitivity. Analysis on the hardness properties has been
carried out using Vickers hardness and bulk density method. It shows that hardness
of samples do not affected by the bulk density. Field Emission Scanning Electron
Microscopy (FESEM), X-ray Diffractometer (XRD) and impedance spectroscopy
method were used for characterization the microstructure and sensing properties of
samples. The average grain size shows significant difference between each samples.
The XRD analysis support the characteristic of the average grain size of the
samples. The ratio of impedance indicate the sensitivity of samples. Sample with
Zr02 addition of 20 wt% have the highest ratio of impedance and sensitivity for
ceramic composite rather than other samples at two different %RH which is
56 %RH and 27 %RH.