Structure, dielectric and electrical properties of cerium doped barium zirconium titanate ceramics

► Rare-earth doped barium zirconate titanate (BZT) ceramics, Ba(Zr0.25Ti0.75)O3 + xCeO2, (x = 0-1.5 at%) were obtained by a solid state reaction route. ► Morphological analysis on sintered samples by scanning electron microscopy shows that the addition of rare-earth ions affects the growth of the grain and remarkably changes the grain morphology. ► The effect of rare-earth addition to BZT on dielectric and electrical properties is analyzed, demonstrating that the samples with x = 0.4 and x = 0.6 could be semiconducting in air atmosphere.