Preparation and electrical properties of Pb(1–1.5x)Lax(Zr0.66Sn0.25Ti0.09)O3 ceramics

Pb(1–1.5x)Lax(Zr0.66Sn0.25Ti0.09)O3 (x = 0.01, 0.02, 0.03 and 0.04) antiferroelectric ceramics with perovskite structure were prepared by a conventional solid state sintering method. The influences of La content, sintering temperature and soaking time on phase structure and energy-storage density were investigated in detail. The appropriate La content, sintering temperature and soaking time are beneficial for obtaining the homogenous grain size and better energy storage performance. The Pb0.97La0.02 (Zr0.66Sn0.25Ti0.09)O3 ceramics obtained at 1200 °C for 2 h display the optimum electronic performance with the low remnant polarization (1.19 μC/cm2), a large maximum polarization (27.07 μC/cm2) and a large energy density (1.03 J/cm3) at 1 Hz was obtained at a relatively low field (70 kV).