Structural, dielectric and ferroelectric study of Ba0.9Sr0.1ZrxTi1−xO3 ceramics prepared by the sol–gel method

In this paper, we report the structural, dielectric and ferroelectric properties of zirconium (Zr)-modified barium strontium titanate (Ba0.9Sr0.1ZrxTi1−xO3) ceramics with varying Zr content as x=0, 0.20, 0.25 and 0.30 synthesized by the sol–gel method. Stable polycrystalline perovskite phase is obtained at a processing temperature of 1150 °C, which is lower than the processing temperature of conventional solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows a systematic peak shift with increasing Zr content, indicating incorporation of Zr in BST lattice. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) is done to investigate microstructure of the pellets. The diffusivity parameter (γ) and the standard deviation from the Curie–Weiss law have also been investigated as a function of Zr. The polarization vs electric field shows a decrease in remnant polarization with increasing Zr content.