MORPHOLOGICAL-CHARACTERISTICS OF SNO2 BASED POWDERS CONTAINING MANGANESE

SnO2 based powders containing increasing quantities of manganese (0 le ss than or equal to Mn/(Mn+Sn)less than or equal to 0.15 cationic rati o) were prepared by a chemical route derived from Pechini's patent. Th e resulting powders, after a calcination at 500 degrees C, crystallize in the SnO2 rutile structure. X-Ray diffraction spectra do not show t he presence of any manganese-rich phase, which is indicative of a good homogeneity. Nevertheless, the presence of increasing quantities of m anganese leads to a significant decrease in the powder average particl e size. Finally, the effect of further heat treatments in the 500 - 14 00 degrees C temperature range on the powder characteristics is also p resented.