Tailoring the properties of Ni-Mn based NTC thermistors by Cu and Li addition

The influence of Cu and Li doping in the structural and R-T characteristics of Ni-Mn-based spinel oxide negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistors prepared using the conventional solid-state synthesis method was investigated in this study. The doping of Cu and Li in nickel manganite plays an important role in tailoring the thermistor parameters. The structural characterization of the prepared samples using XRD revealed that the basic structure of the samples is not altered by the addition of the dopants Cu and Li. The particle size of the samples was obtained at less than 50 nm. R-T characteristics showed a decrease in resistance with temperature. It was observed that the addition of dopant Cu in a minimal amount helps to tune the resistance of the thermistor in the required range and Li addition, as a dopant, stabilized the thermistor parameters B and alpha.