Structural characterization and anomalous dielectric behaviour of (Si3N4)x(V2O5)100−x ceramics

In this paper we have studied the structure and electrical properties of (Si3N4)x(V2O5)100−x ceramics samples. The XRD shows the crystalline nature and SEM shows the morphology of these samples. By using Sherrer's equation the grain size has been measured and found to be of few nanometres. Temperature dependence of DC conductivity of the bulk samples are carried out in the temperature range (400–806 K) to understand the dielectric loss and conduction mechanism in these materials. The dielectric response reveals that there is a negative capacitance effect in these ceramic materials. Negative capacitance has been observed for ceramics of (Si3N4)x(V2O5)100−x in the audio frequency range (0.12–100 kHz). The presence of inductive reactance may cause of the negative capacitance which can be explained in terms of RLC component. The inertial conductivity, Maxwellian dielectric relaxation time (τm) and average dielectric relaxation time (τ) have been measured and found that τm is less than τ.