Piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties of lead-free (1-x)(Na1−yKy)(Nb1−zSbz)O3-xBaTiO3 solid solution

The solid solutions of lead-free (1-x)(Na1-yKy)(Nb1-zSbz)O3-xBaTiO3 (with x=0.1, 0.2; y=0.03, 0.05; z=0.05, 0.1) (abbreviated as (1-x)NKNS-xBT) ceramics have been synthesized using conventional solid-state reaction method. The results of X-ray diffraction analysis show that all the grown specimens of NKNS display typical perovskite structure. With BaTiO3 (BT) addition, a structural phase transition from tetragonal to cubic structure has been observed. The structural parameters of (1-x)NKNS-xBT powders were determined by profile refinements based on the analysis of X-ray powder diffraction. The charge density distributions of the prepared samples have been investigated by observed structure factors to understand the chemical bonding nature of (1-x)NKNS-xBT powders. The optical absorption of the ceramics has been investigated using UV-visible spectrophotometer. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) measurements were performed to study the surface morphology of the prepared solid solutions. The elemental compositions of the (1-x)NKNS-xBT samples were analyzed by energy-dispersive X-ray (EDS) spectrometer. The dielectric constant versus temperature plots of the solid solutions exhibit ferroelectric to paraelectric phase transition, which is dependent on the BaTiO3 content. The ferroelectric nature of the samples has been determined through polarization and electric field hysteresis measurements.