Sintering behavior and dielectric properties of Ce doped strontium barium niobate ceramics with silica sintering additive

Sr0.5Ba0.5Nb2O6 ceramics with and without CeO2 dopant were prepared by a partial co-precipitation method and a liquid phase sintering process. The cooperative effects of Ce doping and silica sintering additive on the sintering behaviors and the dielectric properties of Sr0.5Ba0.5Nb2O6 ceramics was investigated. It was observed that the lattice parameters of a-axis and c-axis of Sr0.5Ba0.5Nb2O6 ceramics decrease with the increase of Ce dopant, namely contraction of crystal cell volume occurs. Amorphous silica used for sintering additive can effectively restrain abnormal grain growth and prevent the rise of sintering activation energies caused by Ce doping, but Ce doping has more effect on the average size of the grains and the dielectric properties than the silica sintering additive when the Ce dopant and the silica sintering additive are introduced. Both the Curie temperatures and the maximum of dielectric constant at Tc decrease as the Ce3+ concentration increases.

► In this study we firstly investigated the cooperative effects of Ce doping and silica sintering additive on the microstructure and dielectric properties of Sr0.5Ba0.5Nb2O6 ceramics.
► We found the contraction phenomenon of crystal cell volume for SBN ceramics when the Ce dopant and silica sintering additive were added.
► We reached the destinations both to restrain the abnormal grain growth and prevent the rise of sintering active energy in the preparation of Ce doped SBN ceramics.
► We conclude that The Ce doping had more active effects on the grain sizes and the dielectric properties than the silica sintering additive.