Enhanced piezoelectricity in Na and Ce co-doped CaBi_(4)Ti_(4)O_(15) ceramics for high-temperature applications

The sodium(Na)and Ce co-doped calcium bismuth titanate(CBT;CaBi_(4)Ti_(4)O_(15))Aurivillius ceramics in a Ca_(1-x)(Na_(0.5)Ce_(0.5)),Bi_(4)Ti_(4)O_(15)(CNCBT;doping content(x)=0,0.03,0.05,0.08 and 0.12)system were synthesized by the conventional solid-state sintering method.All compositions show a single-phase orthorhombic(space group:A2jam)structure at room temperature.The shift of the Curie point(T_(c))towards lower temperatures(T)on doping results from the increased tolerance factor(t).The substitution-enhanced ferroelectric performance with large maximum polarization(P_(m))and facilitated domain switching is evidenced by the developed electrical polarization-electric field(P-E)and electrical current-electric field(I-E)hysteresis loops.The piezoelectric coefficient(d_(33)=20.5±0.1 pC/N)of the x=0.12 sample is about four times larger than that of pure CBT.The improved piezoelectric properties can be attributed to the high remanent polarization(P_(r))and relatively high dielectric permittivity(ε′).In addition,multi-sized(micron and sub-micron)domain structures were observed in the CNCBT ceramics by the piezoresponse force microscope(PFM).The multiple-sized ferroelectric domain structure with smaller domains is beneficial to the easy domain switching,enhanced ferroelectric performance,and improved piezoelectric properties of the CNCBT ceramics.The designed Aurivillius-phase ferroelectric ceramics with the T_(c) around 765℃and high piezoelectric coefficient(d_(33))are suitable for high-temperature piezoelectric applications.

Solvent-free mechanochemical synthesis of organic proton conducting salts incorporating imidazole and dicarboxylic acids

Solventless mechanochemical synthesis by manual grinding was applied to grow organic proton conducting salts,imidazole-succinic acid(C_(3)H_(4)N_(2)-HOOC(CH_(2))_(2)COOH)and imidazole-glutaric acid(C_(3)H_(4)N_(2)-HOOC(CH_(2))_(3)COOH).This synthesis method induces crystallization and provides the phase-pure compounds.The compounds exhibit different electric conducting behavior and activation energies Ea compared with the reported single crystals obtained from the solution method.The difference in conducting property can be related to intrinsic defects and structural disorder introduced by mechanochemical grinding,indicating that the mechanochemical method bears strong capability for tuning conductivities.Moreover,complete deuteration of the organic salts is achieved by the method.The mechanochemical synthesis of organic salts also holds high potential for the actual industrialized large-scale production.

Magnetoelectric coupling at microwave frequencies observed in bismuth ferrite-based multiferroics at room temperature

1.Introduction,In the search for advanced multifunctional materials for next generation sensors and logic devices,magnetoelectric multifer-roics exhibiting simultaneously ferromagnetism and ferroelectric-ity within the same phase have received considerable attention in recent years[1-4].