Lead-free ferroelectric Na1−xSrx (Sn0.25Ti0.75) xNb1−xO3 system (0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) XRD, dielectric, and Raman properties

Na1−xSrx(Sn0.25Ti0.75)xNb1−xO3 (SNSTNx) ceramics with composition (0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) were synthesized by the conventional solid-state method. The purity, microstructure, dielectric, ferroelectric and Raman features were sought. This study demonstrated that antiferroelectricity can be stabilized in NaNbO3-based ceramics by lowering the tolerance factor. This compound exhibited a single phase of perovskite without impurity with tetragonal symmetry (P4mm). Micro structural investigations, using both XRD and SEM, indicated an enhancement of antiferroelectric super lattice peaks with SrSnO3 and SrTiO3. The dielectric study showed that our new ceramics had better characteristics than pure NaNbO3 and the relaxor behavior demonstrated the SNSTNx candidacy for use in several industrial applications. The ferroelectric behavior revealed that only ferroelectric domains existed in the prepared ceramic. In contrast, NaNbO3 displayed the coexistence of antiferroelectric and ferroelectric domains. The Raman spectra of SNSTNx as a function of composition and temperature were also in favor of our dielectric results.