Dielectric properties and relaxor ferroelectric behavior of （1-y）Ba(Zr0.1Ti0.9)O3-yBa(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 ceramics

The microstructure,dielectric and ferroelectric properties of(1-y)Ba(Zr0.1Ti0.9)O3-yBa(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3(y=0-0.05)ceramics prepared by traditional solid state method were investigated by X-ray diffractometer,scanning electron microscope,electric parameter testing system and ferroelectric tester.It is found that the barium zirconate titanate based ceramics are single-phase perovskites as y increases up to 0.05 and their average grain size decreases with the increase of y.The permittivity maximumεr,max is suppressed from 8948 to 1611 at 1 kHz with increasing y,and the ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition temperature Tm decreases from 93 to-89℃at 1 kHz as y increases.The composition-induced diffuse phase transition is enhanced with increasingy.The relaxor-like ferroelectric behavior with a strong frequency dispersion of Tm and permittivity at T<Tm accompanied by a strong diffuse phase transition is found for the system with high y value.The remnant polarization decreases with increasing y,while the coercive field decreases remarkably and then increases with the increase of y.

Relaxor ferroelectric and dielectric properties of(1-x)Ba(Zr_(1/3)Ti_(2/3))O_(3)-xBaMg_(0.1)Ta_(0.9))O_(3)ceramics

The environmentally-friendly(1-x)Ba(Zr_(1/3)Ti_(2/3))O_(3)-xBaMg_(0.1)Ta_(0.9))O_(3)(x=0,0.02,0.04,0.06,0.08)relaxor ferroelectric ceramics were prepared by the conventional solid-state method and sintered in air at 1400°C for 2 h.SEM and XRD analyses were utilized to study the surface morphologies and the crystalline structures,respectively.The effects of BaMg_(0.1)Ta_(0.9))O_(3)on the phase transformation,dielectric and ferroelectric properties of Ba(Zr_(1/3)Ti_(2/3))O_(3)ceramics were also investigated.It is found that the average grain size of(1-x)Ba(Zr_(1/3)Ti_(2/3))O_(3)-xBaMg_(0.1)Ta_(0.9))O_(3)(BZT-BMT)perovskite single-phase ceramics decreases as the content of BaMg_(0.1)Ta_(0.9))O_(3)(BMT)increases.The relaxor ferroelectric behavior with diffuse phase transition and well-defined frequency dispersion of dielectric maximum temperature is found for the ceramic with increasing x values.0.98BZT-0.02BMT ceramic shows very good dielectric properties with the relative permittivity and the dielectric loss,measured at 100 k Hz as 6034 and 0.01399 respectively at room temperature.Both remnant polarization and coercive field decreased with increasing BMT content,indicating a transition from the ferroelectric phase to the paraelectric phase at room temperature.

Interaction mechanism between BaZrO_(3)/Y_(2)O_(3) refractory and Ti_(2)Ni alloy melts

The titanium alloys with highly chemical activity require stable crucible refractories that can withstand the erosion of alloy melts.The phase composition and microstructure are crucial factors that affect the stability of the refractory crucible.The effect of Y_(2)O_(3) on the composition and microstructure of BaZrO_(3) crucible was systematically investigated,and the improved mechanism of the stability of BaZrO_(3)/Y_(2)O_(3) crucible was clarified in comparison with the BaZrO_(3) crucible.The results showed that the erosion layer thickness of the BaZrO_(3)/Y_(2)O_(3) crucible was only 63μm,which was far less than that in the BaZrO_(3) crucible(485μm),and the erosion layer in the BaZrO_(3)/Y_(2)O_(3) crucible also exhibited a higher density than that in the BaZrO_(3) crucible.During the sintering,Y_(2)O_(3) could improve the densification of the BaZrO_(3) crucible due to the solid solution effect between Y_(2)O_(3) and ZrO_(2),which also caused the evaporation of BaO,resulting in the generation of a Y_(2)O_(3)(ZrO_(2))film on the surface of the crucible.Furthermore,the Y_(2)O_(3)(ZrO_(2))had higher thermodynamic stability than Y_(2)O_(3),confirming that the BaZrO_(3)/Y_(2)O_(3) crucible with high density exhibited a superior erosion resistance to titanium alloys.This dual-phase structure provides a strategy to design a long-life and stable refractory for melting titanium alloys.

A new sintering approach to ceramics at low temperature from Ba(ZrxTi1-x)O3 nanoparticles doped by ZnO

The sintering temperature decreases theoretically with the grain size of the ceramic powders,but it is not always right for fine grain sized nanopowders due to the inevitable agglomerations,and thus pores are hard to eliminate thoroughly during sintering.To overcome this difficulty,a new approach is designed to sintering ceramics at low temperature from nanoparticles.In this scheme,excessive dopants,such as ZnO,are synthesized into the nanoparticles,and they would be liberated again on the surfaces of the grains at high temperature as sintering aids homogenously to promote densification.Here,we compared the ceramic sintering of ZnO-doped barium zirconate titanate (BaZrxTil-xO3,BZT) nanoparticles with BZT nanoparticles using ZnO as additive at 1150 ℃.Both kinds of nanoparticles were directly synthesized by the same process at room temperature and yielded the same initial grain size of～10 nm.The dense BZT ceramic with relative density of 99％ was fabricated from the 2 mol％ ZnO-doped nanoparticles.On the other hand,the porous BZT ceramic with density of 78％ was obtained from nanoparticles with 2 mol％ ZnO as additive.Therefore,our strategy to ceramic sintering at low temperature from nanoparticles was confirmed.

Influence of CeO_2 doping amount on property of BCTZ lead-free piezoelectric ceramics sintered at low temperature

Ba0.85Ca0.15Ti0.9Zr0.1O3 （BCTZ） lead-free piezoelectric ceramics co-doped with CeO2 （x=0.1 wt.%, 0.2 wt.%, 0.3 wt.%, 0.4 wt.%, 0.5 wt.%） and Li2CO3 （0.6 wt.%） were prepared by conventional solid-state reaction method. Influence of CeO2 doping amount on the piezoelectric properties, dielectric properties, phase composition and microstructure of prepared BCTZ lead-free piezoelectric ceramics doped with Li2CO3 were investigated by X-ray diffraction （XRD） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and other analytical methods. The results showed that the sintered temperature of BCTZ lead-free piezoelectric ceramics doped with CeO2 decreased greatly when Li2CO3 doping amount was 0.6 wt.%;a pure perovskite structure of BCTZ lead-free piezoelectric ceramics co-doped with Li2CO3 and CeO2 and sintered at 1050 ℃ could also be obtained. The piezoelectric constant （d33）, the relative permit-tivity （εr） and the planar electromechanical coupling factor （kp） of BCTZ ceramics doped with Li2CO3 increased firstly and then de-creased, the dielectric loss （tanδ） decreased firstly and then increased and decreased at last when CeO2 doping amount increased. The influence of CeO2 doping on the properties of BCTZ lead-free piezoelectric ceramics doped with Li2CO3 were caused by“soft effect”and “hard effect”piezoelectric additive and causing lattice distortion. When CeO2 doping amount （x） was 0.2 wt.%, the BCTZ ceramics doped with Li2CO3 （0.6 wt.%） and sintered at 1050 ℃ possessed the best piezoelectric property and dielectric property with d33 of 436 pC/N, kp of 48.3%,εr of 3650, tanδof 1.5%.