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The global increase in electrical device consumption has escalated the demand for excellent surge protectors. As a state-of-the-art technology, varistor has received considerable attention due to its outstanding versatility and wide range of applications. Hence, it is crucial to understand the development trend of varistor to expand the collaboration networks and propel its advancement. In this bibliometric article, several procedures were presented and analyzed to determine the global research trend of varistor based on the publication output each year, leading countries, most prolific authors, and co-occurrences of author keywords. After several stages of collecting and refining the textual information from the Scopus database, a total number of 2122 research articles and conference papers were retrieved between 1951 and 2021. Results show that since 1975, the annual number of publications has increased significantly, with 2020 recording the highest value of 1363 articles. China, the United States, South Korea, and Japan contributed around 60% of the total articles published. Moreover, three of the most prolific institutions associated with the research topic were ranked among the top 200 universities globally. The analysis of varistor research progress will provide a common overview of collaborative networks and potential collaborators for a better broadening of knowledge.

In the present, varistor ceramics through the combination of zinc oxide (ZnO) with a perovskite material have become widespread because of their unique properties for a wide range of applications in electronic protection devices. Low-voltage zinc oxide (ZnO) varistors with fast response and highly nonlinear electrical properties for overvoltage protection in an integrated circuit are increasingly significant in the application of low-voltage electronics. The present study highlights the interaction between barium titanate (BaTiO3) and ZnO varistors through the employment of solid-state reaction method in the production of low-voltage varistors. The effects of BaTiO3 on the microstructure of ZnO varistors were analyzed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The EDS analysis and XRD measurements suggest the presence of ZnO and BaTiO3 phases. The electrical properties of BaTiO3-doped ZnO varistors were examined based on the current density-electric field (J-E) characteristics measurement. The varistor properties showed the nonlinear coefficient (α) from 1.8 to 4.8 with the barrier height (φB) ranged from 0.70 to 0.88 eV. The used of BaTiO3 additive in ZnO varistors produced varistor voltages of 4.7 to 14.1 V/mm with the voltage per grain boundary (Vgb) was measured in the ranges 0.03 to 0.05 V. The lowest leakage current density was 348 μA/cm2, obtained at the samples containing 12 wt.% BaTiO3 with high barrier height. The reduction in barrier height with increasing BaTiO3 content was associated with the excessive amount of BaTiO3 phase, hence cause the deterioration of active grain boundary due to the variation of oxygen (O) vacancies in the grain boundary.

This paper investigated the effects of Pr6O11 and Co3O4 on the electrical properties of ZnO-BaTiO3 varistor ceramics. The Pr6O11 doping has a notable influence on the characteristics of the nonlinear coefficient, varistor voltage, and leakage current where the values varied from 2.29 to 2.69, 12.36 to 68.36 V/mm and 599.33 to 548.16 µA/cm2, respectively. The nonlinear varistor coefficient of 5.50 to 7.15 and the varistor voltage of 7.38 to 8.10 V/mm was also influenced by the use of Co3O4 as a dopant. When the amount of Co3O4 was above 0.5 wt.%, the leakage current increased from 202.41 to 302.71 μA/cm2. The varistor ceramics with 1.5 wt.% Pr6O11 shows good nonlinear electrical performance at higher breakdown voltage and reduced the leakage current of the ceramic materials. Besides, the varistor sample that was doped with 0.5 wt.% Co3O4 was able to enhance the nonlinear electrical properties at low breakdown voltage with a smaller value of leakage current.