Electrical properties of BiFeO3–BaTiO3 ceramics fabricated by mechanochemical synthesis and spark plasma sintering

Abstract

0.75BiFeO3–0.25BaTiO3 (75BF–25BT) multiferroic powders were prepared by a mechanochemical synthesis at room temperature and the dense ceramics were sintered by a spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 1023–1073K. Microstructures of the ball milled powders and SPS ceramics were thoroughly investigated through X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. A bulk density up to 96% of theoretical density was achieved in the SPS ceramics. Dielectric spectra of the 75BF–25BT ceramics were characterized in a broad range of temperature and frequency. Typical saturated ferroelectric hysteresis loops with remnant polarization of 10μC/cm2 were obtained at room temperature, which makes it a good candidate for potential applications.