Significant enhancement in microstructural and electrical properties of lead-free (1-x)Ba0.9Sr0.1Ti0.9Zr0.1O3-xLiNbO3 ceramic composites

Abstract Ferroelectric composites of compositions (1-x)Ba0.9Sr0.1Ti0.9Zr0.1O3-(x)LiNbO3 (BTSZ-LNO) were synthesized by employing a modified mechano-chemical activation technique. The results indicate that there is a significant improvement in the material density and microstructural properties of the composites with LNO substitution, which has resulted in an improvement in electrical properties of the materials. The peak dielectric constant of the material is markedly enhanced from 8536 to 9512 for the sample with x = 0.10 LNO concentration. LNO substitution in BTSZ has led to a transformation from classical ferroelectric to relaxor, which is a crucial requirement for energy storage materials. The electromechanical response as a function of poling temperature and poling electric field has been investigated to obtain optimum piezoelectric characteristics. The sample with x = 0.10 LNO concentration exhibited a significant improvement in breakdown strength, which is ascribed to relatively higher density, uniform grain distribution, and optimum grain size of the material. The enhancement in electrical and electromechanical properties in (1-x)BTSZ-xLNO sample with x = 0.10 concentration indicates that the material can be employed in multi-layer ceramic capacitors, electrical insulators, and piezoelectric sensors.