Enhancement in the piezoelectric properties in lead-free BZT-xBCT dense ceramics

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics Vol. 31; no. 23; pp. 21651 - 21660
• Main Authors: Syal, Rajat, Kumar, Manoj, Singh, Arun Kumar, De, Arnab, Thakur, O. P., Kumar, Sanjeev
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.12.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Ceramics; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Coercivity; Composition; Coupling coefficients; Curie temperature; Electric properties; Electrical properties; Engineering; Grain size; Hysteresis loops; Lead free; Materials Science; Optical and Electronic Materials; Phase transitions; Photomicrographs; Piezoelectricity; Sintering; Structural analysis; Temperature; Temperature dependence
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-020-04678-9

In this paper, we have prepared the lead-free piezoelectric BZT- x BCT ( x  = 0.48, 0.49, 0.50 and 0.51) polycrystalline compositions using solid-state reaction technique. Structural, microstructural and electrical properties were explored by changing the BCT concentration. Structural analysis shows the existence of morphotropic phase boundary in BZT- x BCT ( x  = 0.50) sample. The SEM micrographs illustrate the decrease in grain size with increase in the BCT concentration. The temperature-dependent dielectric behavior depicts high dielectric constant ~ 26,100 and low loss ~ 0.04 for BZT-0.48BCT composition at Curie temperature. The PE hysteresis loop shows the well-saturated hysteresis loops and low value of coercive field ( E C ). The higher values of electromechanical planar coupling coefficient, K P  ~ 51.2%, piezoelectric coefficient, d 33  ~ 512 pC/N and bipolar strain (~ 0.16%) were recorded for BZT-0.50BCT ceramic composition.