Enhancing the properties of high-temperature BiScO3–PbTiO3 piezoceramics via Bi addition

• Effects of excess Bi pre-addition on the conventional ceramic processing for BSPT were studied.
• The most appropriate amount of excess Bi2O3 was determined to be 0.2 wt%.
• Excess Bi2O3 not only compensates the Bi evaporation loss, but also acts as sintering aid.
• Excess Bi addition is a simple but effective solution for conventional ceramic processing of BSPT.

The effect of varying amounts of excess Bi on the structural and electrical properties of sintered 0.363BiScO3–0.637PbTiO3 (BSPT) ceramics was studied in detail in order to evaluate its role in the fabrication of BSPT ceramics by conventional ceramic processing. The results show that pre-addition of 0.2 wt% excess Bi2O3 can not only well compensate the Bi evaporation loss, but also act as sintering aid, leading to highly dense ceramics with desired phase structure, stoichiometry, and thus substantially enhanced electrical properties, with the piezoelectric coefficient d33, electromechanical coupling factor kp, dielectric constant ε33T/ε0 and remnant polarization Pr being improved by 23.4%, 10.8%, 17% and 22.2%, respectively. The work demonstrates that pre-addition of a proper amount of excess Bi is a simple but effective solution toward a controllable and reproducible conventional processing for high-temperature BSPT piezoceramics with superior electrical properties.

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