Structural, Electrical Studies of K0.47Na0.47Li0.06NbO3+(x) Bi0.5Na0.5ZrO3 Composites

Abstract

Through a typical solid-state reaction followed by planetary ball milling, ABO3 structured perovskite Bi0.5Na0.5ZrO3 (BNZ) was employed as an additive to create the lead-free piezoceramic composite having compositional formula K0.47Na0.47Li0.06NbO3+(x)Bi0.5Na0.5ZrO3 where x = 0.0 wt% to 0.5 wt%. The prepared composites were characterized with the help of XRD, SEM, and FTIR. The XRD results indicated manifestation of morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), i.e. orthorhombic-tetragonal (O-T) phase boundary, for 0.4 wt% and 0.5 wt%. The SEM pictures revealed the microstructural properties of grain-grain size distribution and the average grain size of the composites. The elemental composition examination using EDAX revealed no foreign element contamination. The FTIR examination verified the development of perovskite, indicating that the BNZ has correctly fused into the KNLN matrix. The DC resistivity (ρdc) behavior was determined from IV and IR curves measured at room temperature together with varied temperature line up from 30 °C to 150 °C and a high dc resistivity ρdc of order ≈ 109 Ω cm was obtained for all the ceramics. The results have been analyzed and the mechanism pertaining to the results has been discussed in the paper. Thus the main idea was to develop a lead-free piezoceramic composite by incorporating Bi0.5Na0.5ZrO3 as an additive and investigating its effect on the above mentioned properties of the composite material.