Structural and impedance spectroscopic studies on PbZrxTi1−xO3 ceramics

Polycrystalline samples of PbZrxTi1−xO3 [PZT] ceramics (where x=0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0) have been synthesized by a high temperature solid-state reaction technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies have been carried out to determine the structural phase present and morphological modifications that occur with the change in Zr/Ti ratio. The structural phase evolution studies were carried out from the analysis of room temperature X-ray powder diffraction data. The particle sizes of the powders have been estimated from the width of Bragg's peak using Scherrer formula. Microstructural studies for all the samples have been carried out using SEM. The SEM analysis of the samples showed nearly uniform grain distribution i.e. uniform microstructure with no abnormal grain growth. Impedance measurements have been carried out in the temperature range from room temperature (RT) to 560 °C in the frequency range (5 Hz–13 MHz). AC conductivity has been obtained from this data. The values of activation energy have been obtained from the slopes of the Arrhenius plots.