Abstract

In this paper, we report on the influence of thermal annealing on the electrical and thermal properties of nano-clustered Pd:Ag particles packed into compressed thin wafers. The nano-crystalline Pd:Ag compacts were prepared by solvent evaporation of non-aqueous metal colloids prepared by clustering of metal atoms in organic solvents at low temperature. Samples of Pd:Ag nano-clustered powder so obtained were then compressed into roughly 250 μm thick, 10 mm diameter wafers, and annealed at different temperatures, for about 1 h. The dependence of the electrical resistivity and of the thermal diffusivity of the resulting compacts on their corresponding annealing temperatures were investigated using a LCR impedance meter and a photoacoustic thermal diffusivity measurement apparatus.