Investigation of electrical, dielectric and multiferroic properties of 0.7Bi0.95Sm0.05Fe1-xGaxO3-0.3BaTiO3 composite ceramic system for high temperature piezoelectric applications

Abstract

Lead-free composite ceramics, 0.7Bi0.95Sm0.05Fe1-xGaxO3-0.3BaTiO3 (BSFGx-BT), were made using a solid-state reaction method for x = 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 %. We have investigated the effects of Samarium (Sm) and Gallium (Ga) co-doping on the crystal structure, topography, spectroscopy, electrical and multiferroic characteristics of the 0.7BiFeO3-0.3BaTiO3 (0.7BFO-0.3BTO) system for piezoelectric applications. The structural results indicate that the composite ceramics exhibited rhombohedra R and tetragonal T phases characterized by R3c and P4mm space groups, respectively which was also further confirmed by X-ray Rietveld refinement pattern analysis. In dielectric behaviour study high Curie temperature of 550 °C was obtained with high temperature stability. Furthermore, the study investigated the effects of grain and grain boundaries on capacitive and resistive properties. The ceramics displayed the characteristics of the negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTCR). It was observed that as the Ga concentration increased, the grain resistance (Rb) also increased, reaching its maximum value for x =10 %. Additionally, at higher temperatures, this composite exhibited lower electrical resistivity. Importantly, the ceramics showed the co-existence of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric behaviour with the enhanced values of remanent magnetization (Mr)= 0.043 emu/g, coercivity (Hc) = 5730 Oe and remanent polarization (Pr) = 6.07 µC/cm2, coercive field (Ec) = 6.78 kV/cm for the composition x =10 %. These findings suggest that Sm & Ga incorporated 0.7BFO-0.3BTO composite ceramics can show promising high-temperature piezoelectric applications.