Phase evolution and enhanced electrical properties in Ba_0.85Ca_0.15Zr_0.10Ti_0.90O₃ lead-free ceramics prepared at different sintering temperatures

ABSTRACT

Ba_0.85Ca_0.15Zr_0.10Ti_0.90O₃ (BCZT) lead-free ceramics were prepared by sol–gel technique, and the influence of sintering temperature on phase evolution and electrical properties has been investigated. The X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that the BCZT ceramics sintered at 850°C do not well crystallized into perovskite phase and orthorhombic-tetragonal biphase coexists at higher sintering temperatures (1250–1350°C). The average grain size increases from 0.23 to 1.37 μm as the sintering temperature increases from 850 to 1400°C. The dielectric properties improve with increasing sintering temperature up to 1300°C. The BCZT ceramics sintered at 1300°C exhibit enhanced dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties with high dielectric constant ϵ′ ∼ 3470, low loss tangent (tanδ) of 0.053, spontaneous polarization P_s ∼ 12 μC/cm², remnant polarization P_r ∼ 2.35 μC/cm² and coercive field E_c ∼ 1.13 kV/cm and high d₃₃ ∼ 367 pCN⁻¹ while simultaneously maintaining a high T_c above 100°C.

KEYWORDS:

• Lead-free ferroelectrics
• phase evolution
• dielectric
• ferroelectric
• piezoelectric

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).