Structural, electrical and dielectric investigations of cerium doped barium zirconate (BaZrO3) nano-ceramics produced via green synthesis: Probable candidate for solid oxide fuel cells and microwave applications

Abstract Cerium incorporated barium zirconate nano-ceramics BaZr1-xCexO3-x/2 were fabricated by eco-friendly green combustion using honey as a fuel. FTIR spectra evidenced a prominent band between 400 and 700 cm−1 characteristics of ABO3 perovskites. The bond-length (r) of Zr–O bond is extended through doping of Ce ions. Consequently, the communication among Zr and O bond is weakened. The electrical conductivity rises with temperature, demonstrating that BaZr1-xCexO3-x/2 exhibits ionic and/or electron-hole conduction. The conductivity is observed to enhance with the Ce3+ concentration. At 850 °C, the solid x = 0.10 exhibits enhanced conductivity of 0.0190 S/cm than that of pristine BaZrO3 (0.010 S/cm). The increasing trend of conductivity may be due to decreased grain boundary resistance effect and generation of oxygen vacancies. Dielectric behaviour shows slight frequency dependence performance, the dielectric constant was high (e = 35–45) in lower frequency region. The dielectric constant declines on enhancing Ce-content which can be explained on the Maxwell-Wagner model.