The Electrical Properties of BCZT Lead-Free Ceramics Induced by BaZrO3 Seeds

Ba0.85Ca0.15Zr0.1Ti0.9O3 (BCZT) ceramics were produced by using the seed-induced method. The nano-particle BZ (BaZrO3) seeds were mixed with BaCO3, CaCO3, ZrO2 and TiO2 powder for preparing by the mixed oxide method. The XRD results indicated that all powder and sintered ceramic samples showed a pure perovskite phase with coexistence between rhombohedral and tetragonal phase. As the BZ seed content increased, the density of ceramics tended to decrease from 5.61 g/cm3 to 5.37 g/cm3. The average grain size of the ceramics was in the range of 12.15 -13.50 mm. The dielectric loss (tand) was less than 0.03 for all samples at room temperature (at 1 kHz). Other electrical properties, including dielectric constant (er), remnant polarization (Pr), and piezoelectric charge coefficient (d33) values decreased with increasing BZ seed doping with relates to the decreasing grain size and density of BCZT ceramics. However, the values of coercive field (Ec) decreased and piezoelectric voltage coefficient (g33) increased with BZ seed doping.