'Lead Free' thick film thermistors: a study of variation in glass frit concentration and organics composition

摘要

There is a need to develop environment friendly electronic materials due to worldwide constraint for the use of hazardous chemicals such as lead, cadmium which are the main constituents of the electronic components. Considering such need, the work on lead free thick film thermistors has been initiated. Thick film materials have been proved to possess economical processing and functional advantage over other technologies and quick turnaround production of hybrid microcircuits. Thick film thermistors are different from the conventional thermistors (bulk) not only by the preparation process but also in composition, transport properties etc. In this paper, we have specifically focused on the influence of glass frit content and organic composition on the properties of lead free spinel based NTC thermistors. We noted that the glass frit concentration is responsible for the change in physical as well as electrical properties of the thick film thermistor. However, the type of organic vehicle (i.e., composition) did not show any adverse effect on microstructure and electrical properties of the thermistor.