Preparation and dielectric properties of Ce-doped Ba(ZrxTi1−x)O3 ceramics

Ba(Zr x Ti1−x )O3 ceramics with different Zr/Ti ratios of 1:9, 2:8, 2.5:7.5, 3.5:6.5, and 4:6 (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.25, 0.35, 0.4) were prepared by sol–gel technology by using inorganic zirconium as raw material. XRD analyses show that the peaks of Ba(Zr x Ti1−x )O3 ceramics move to smaller degree when Ti was replaced by Zr. With a Zr/Ti ratio of 2:8, the main peak appears at 31.20° and it is the strongest among all other Ba(Zr x Ti1−x )O3 ceramics. The results of the dielectric properties of Ba(Zr x Ti1−x )O3 ceramics indicate that ,among different Zr/Ti ratios, 2:8 is the best one, whose dielectric constant reaches 3,656, and the dielectric loss is only 6.2 × 10−3. Ce-doped Ba(Zr0.2,Ti0.8)O3 ceramics were also prepared by sol–gel technology, and the improvements of dielectric-temperature properties by Ce-doping are most noticeable. The Ce-doped Ba(Zr0.2,Ti0.8)O3 reflects more stability of dielectric properties to the temperature than the undoped ones; meanwhile, after Ce-doping ,the dielectric constant is increased as the dielectric loss is decreased.