Structural, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of chemically processed, low temperature sintered piezoelectric BZT–BCT ceramics

0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3–0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3TiO3) nanopowders were synthesized at very low temperature using a soft chemical approach. The synthesized powders and the consolidated disks were structurally characterized thoroughly by XRD, SEM, TEM and EPMA and also by ultraviolet and Raman spectroscopy. The 1350 °C sintered BZT–BCT disk displayed the highest density, underwent diffused phase transition centered at ~100 °C and showed the highest dielectric constant (8917) and lowest dielectric loss (0.015). The sintered BZT–BCT sample with the highest density showed a maximum polarization (P max) of 13 μC cm–2 and remnant polarization of 6 μC cm–2. The same sample exhibited very high electrostrain of ~0.12% under a relatively low electrical field of 3.5 kV mm−1.