Giant dielectric response in (Li, Ti)-doped NiO ceramics synthesized by the polymerized complex method

This paper reports on the synthesis of nanocrystalline (Li, Ti)-doped NiO powders (i.e., Li0.3Ti0.02Ni0.68O, abbreviated as LTNO) by the polymerized complex (PC) method. The synthesized LTNO powders were characterized by thermogravimetric–differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The powders, with particle sizes of 39, 65 and 72 nm as estimated from XRD, were sintered in air at 1280 °C for 4 h to obtain bulk LTNO ceramics. A giant dielectric constant of 104–105 at low frequency with weak temperature dependence over the measured temperature range (−30 to 160 °C) was observed in the sintered LTNO ceramics. The origin of the high permittivity observed in these LTNO ceramics is attributed to the Maxwell–Wagner polarization mechanism and a thermally activated mechanism.