Enhanced electrical properties of BiFeO3–PbTiO3 based ceramics with suitable raw material

Abstract

As for traditional lead-based piezoelectric ceramics, different lead raw materials have minor effect on ceramic’s properties. Meanwhile, poor electrical property is frequently observed in BiFeO3–PbTiO3 based ceramics due to their high leakage current. Here, Pb3O4 and PbO as two kinds of lead raw materials have been used for the preparation of BiFeO3–PbTiO3 based ceramics. The structure, composition, and electrical properties of the ceramics have been analyzed. Although both samples have the same phase structure, the BiFeO3–PbTiO3(PbO)sample exhibits better ferroelectric properties compared with the BiFeO3–PbTiO3(Pb3O4) sample due to the high conductivity in the BiFeO3–PbTiO3(Pb3O4) sample. Both EDS and XPS analysis can confirm the existence of Bi-rich grain boundary phase in BiFeO3–PbTiO3(Pb3O4) sample. In addition, it can be found that the concentration of oxygen vacancies and Fe2+ ions in BiFeO3–PbTiO3(Pb3O4) sample is significantly higher than that of in BiFeO3–PbTiO3(PbO) sample, which is in good consistent with the high conductivity in BiFeO3–PbTiO3(Pb3O4) sample. This result will be helpful to the suitable lead raw material for preparation of BiFeO3–PbTiO3 based piezoelectric ceramics with high resistivity.