Porous Ba 0.85 Ca 0.15 Zr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 Ceramics for Pyroelectric Applications

Porous Ba0.85Ca0.15Zr0.1Ti0.9O3 (BCZT) ferroelectric ceramics were fabricated using a solid-state reaction consisting of BCZT and poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA) (2%, 4%, 8% and 10% by wt.%) as a pore former. By increasing the PMMA content from 0% to 10%, porosity increased from 8% to 29%. It was found that the dielectric constant (er) decreased and the dielectric loss (tanδ) increased with increasing porosity. At 29% porosity, er of the BCZT was found to decrease more, from 3481 to 1117 at 5 kHz and at room temperature. The dielectric constant and volume-specific heat capacity decreased with the increase in porosity which ultimately improved the pyroelectric figure-of-merits (FOMs). Further, the pyroelectric FOMs were estimated and found to be improved at optimum porosity.