The effects of soaking time on the grain growth, dielectric and ferroelectric properties of BaTi0.95Zr0.05O3 ceramics prepared by microwave sintering

Dense ceramics of BaTi1-xZrxO3 with x = 0.05 have been prepared by microwave sintering, and the powders were synthetized by conventional hydrothermal method. Microwave sintering was conducted at 1260-1300 C for different soaking times (0.5 h, 1 h, 1.5 h and 2 h) in air and the hydrothermal processing was conducted at 180 C for 10 h. The effects of soaking time on the grain growth, dielectric and ferroelectric properties were investigated. The XRD analysis revealed that the synthesized compound was formed with no secondary phases. The ceramics showed a maximum density at soaking time = 1 h 30 min and the SEM micrographs indicated the grain growth of ceramics with increasing soaking time. The model of grain growth was also investigated. The dielectric constant as a function of temperature showed a maximum value in permittivity at soaking time = 1 h 30 min on increasing the soaking time. The Pr decreased from 10.27 μC/cm2 to 8.44 μC/cm 2 with increasing soaking time, which can be observed in the P-E loops.© 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.