Preparation and application of aluminum-doped zinc oxide powders via precipitation and plasma processing method

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) conductive powders were successfully obtained through an attractive method based on the pyrolysis of coprecipitated precursors in arc plasma processing. The as-prepared powders were characterized by the x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UV-vis spectrum. The results reveal that Al atoms are doped into ZnO lattice successfully and all the samples are polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure. Moreover, the particle size of aluminum doped zinc oxide prepared from the plasma pyrolysis was smaller than conventional thermal calcination. Afterward, the synthesized powders were reinforced into polypropylene (PP) matrix and the dispersion of the AZO filler in the PP matrix was observed by SEM. In addition, the effect of AZO concentrations on the electrical and mechanical properties of PP composites was investigated via resistance measurement, tensile and impact tests, respectively. The results show that the electrical and mechanical properties depend on the concentration and dispersion of AZO nanoparticles in the matrix. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41990.