Physical and electromechanical properties of barium zirconium titanate synthesized at low-sintering temperature

Abstract Barium zirconium titanate or (Ba(Zr x Ti 1 −  x )O 3 , BZT) was prepared using homogeneous BZT powders derived from a sol–gel process. With a sintering aid, the firing temperature for the BZT ceramics was lower by about 30%, meanwhile, the electromechanical properties of the material were not degraded. Crystallographic phases of the BZT system were identified by the XRD data and Raman spectra and we found that the orthorhombic–perovskite BZT ceramic with x  = 0.05 has the best dielectric and piezoelectric properties.