Ca2+ doping effects on the structural and electrical properties of Na0.5Bi4.5Ti4O15 piezoceramics

Abstract

Bismuth layer structured Na0.5Bi4.5Ti4O15 (NBT) ferroelectric is one of the most promising materials for potential applications at high temperature. However, it is challenged to achieve a balance between high Curie temperature piezoelectric coefficient and excellent thermal stability for NBT piezoceramics. Here, through chemical modification at the A site of NBT with Ca2+, novel (Na0.5Bi0.5)1-xCaxBi4Ti4O15 piezoceramics with excellent properties fabricated by solid state reaction were studied. After doping of Ca2+, the Curie temperature TC increased from 648 °C to 662 °C while the piezoelectric coefficient d33 increased from 14 pC/N to 22 pC/N which can be attributed to the intrinsic contribution of TiO6 octahedral lattice distortion (tilting and rotation) and the extrinsic contribution of the increased density of domain walls. The composition of (Na0.5Bi0.5)0.95Ca0.05Bi4Ti4O15 ceramics with x = 0.05 has the optimal performance with high TC of 655 °C, large d33 of 22 pC/N, high electrical resistivity ρ close to 107 Ω cm at 500 °C and especially excellent thermal stability of d33 only about 5% reduction after being annealed at 625 °C. The work effectively reveals the great potential of CNBT-5 ceramics for high-temperature piezoelectric applications.