Dielectric properties, microstructure and diffuse transition of Ni-doped Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 ceramics

Pure and Ni-doped BaZr0.2Ti0.8O3 ceramics were prepared by conventional solid state reaction method. The microstructure, dielectric properties, and diffuse transition of Ni-doped Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O-3 ceramics were investigated. The results show that Ni3+ has a limited solubility in Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O-3 ceramics. When Ni content is more than 0.1 at.%, the average grain size of Ni-doped BZT ceramics decreases rapidly with the increasing of Ni content. The addition of Ni leads to the fall of the Curie temperature. When Ni content is more than 0.7 at.%, the diffuseness of the phase transition enhances with the increasing of Ni content. The remanent polarization (P-r) decreases while Ni content increases. Moreover, the coercive electric field (E-C) of BZT ceramics with 0.1 at.% Ni is less than that of the pure BZT ceramics. However, when Ni content is more than 0.1 at.%, the coercive electric field increases with the increasing of Ni content. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.