Gd3+ substitution effects, electrical and AC impedance characterizations of Gd/Cr co-doped SrBi4Ti4O15 Aurivillius-phase ceramics

Abstract

Gd/Cr co-doped SrBi4Ti4O15 (Sr1-xGdxBi4Ti4O15 + 0.2 wt% Cr2O3, x = 0∼0.08) Aurivillius-phase ceramics were prepared by the traditional solid-state reaction process, the influences of Gd3+ doping concentration (x) on the structures and electrical properties of SrBi4Ti4O15 were investigated, as well as the AC impedance characterizations of the ceramics were analyzed. The incorporation of Gd2O3 and Cr2O3 into SrBi4Ti4O15 induced the lattice distortion of its orthorhombic structure. The donor substitution of Gd3+ for Sr2+ at A-site improved the Curie temperature (TC) and decrease the temperature coefficient of dielectric constant (TKε), as well as change the relaxation activation energy (Earel) of SrBi4Ti4O15 through the lattice distortion caused. Between 425 °C and 700 °C, the DC conduction behaviors of the ceramics was found with a transition from the mixed conduction mechanism involved in both the single-ionized oxygen vacancy and the double-ionized one to the single mode dominated by the latter one. Above TC, the imaginary part of modulus (M″) gradually shifts towards higher frequencies with increasing temperature, indicating the emergence of a new dielectric relaxation mode related to the phase transition process of the ceramics. Owing to the co-doping effects of Gd3+ and Cr3+, the optimized composition with x = 0.03 achieved excellent electrical properties (TC = 550 °C and d33 = 30 pC/N) and good thermal stability (TKε = 4.19 × 10−3/°C between RT and 500 °C, and the lose in d33 is only 3.3% after being annealed at 500 °C for 4 h), which make it promising for stable applications below 500 °C in the high-temperature piezoelectric devices.