The purpose of this work was to study and prepare SnO2-based dense ceramics doped with CoO and Ta2O5 and different concentrations of Pr2O3. The systems displayed high values of relative density and nonohmic properties. The addition of Pr2O3 caused the number of effective barriers of the systems to increase, improving the value of the nonlinear coefficient, and increasing the breakdown electric field. The height and the width of the potential barriers, which were determined by impedance spectroscopy measurements, indicated that the results are in agreement with the direct current response.
varistor; SnO2; impedance; rare earth
