Synthesis, structure and electric properties of a novel solid solution system: (1-x)Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3-xBi(Zn2/3Nb1/3)O3

Ceramics of a novel solid solution system, (1-x)Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O-3-xBi(Zn2/3Nb1/3)O-3 [(1-x)PZT-xBZN], with compositions near the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), are synthesized by solid-state reaction method and investigated by X-ray diffraction, dielectric spectroscopy, and ferroelectric and piezoelectric measurements. It is found that the increasing amount of Bi(Zn2/3Nb1/3)O-3 (BZN) changes the structure of this system from the tetragonal symmetry to the MPB. The remnant polarization, coercive field and electromechanical properties are significantly enhanced compared with pure PZT ceramics, which is correlated with the MPB feature of the (1-x)PZT-xBZN system. With the increase of BZN content, a gradually diffuse phase transformation with monotonically decreasing Curie temperature and increasing dielectric loss is found.