Effect of vanadium doping on the dielectric and nonlinear current–voltage characteristics of CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramic

Here we report the effect of vanadium doping on the dielectric and electrical properties of giant dielectric material CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO), synthesized through conventional solid-state reaction process. Proper crystalline phase formation together with dopant induced lattice constant shrinkage was confirmed through X-ray diffraction studies. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies confirmed vanadium doping with V4+ replacing Ti4+ at its lattice site. The grain boundary resistivity was found to decrease monotonically with the increase of V doping percentages as revealed by impedance spectroscopic measurement and furthermore the grain size was found to follow the similar trend. The reduced grain boundary resistivity was found to be responsible for the overall variation of current density–electric field (J–E) characteristics.

Research highlights▶ Successful vanadium doping in giant dielectric material CaCu3Ti4O12. ▶ Dopant induced lattice constant shrinkage. ▶ Monotonic decrement of grain boundary resistivity with V doping percentages. ▶ Significant nonlinear I–V characteristics.