Effect of the synthesis route on the phase formation behavior and electric property of Na0.5Bi0.5Cu3Ti4O12 ceramics

•NBCTO ceramics prepared by the sol–gel method exhibit lower dielectric loss.•NBCTO ceramics prepared by the sol–gel method exhibit better temperature stability.•Phase formation temperature of NBCTO was reduced by the sol–gel method.•The samples prepared by different methods exhibit different relaxation behaviors.•The doubly ionization of oxygen vacancies was involved into NBCTO ceramics.

Phase formation behaviors and electric properties of Na0.5Bi0.5Cu3Ti4O12 (NBCTO) ceramics obtained by using a sol–gel and solid-state method were studied in detail. The optimized processing parameters for the synthesis of precursor powders by the sol–gel process were determined as follows: the Ti concentration was 0.53 mol/L, the volume of the CH3COOH was 3.0 mL, and the aging time of the sol was 14 h. XRD and TG-DSC results demonstrated that phase formation temperature of NBCTO was reduced by about 100 °C when the sol–gel method was used. The NBCTO ceramics prepared by the sol–gel method possessed a lower dielectric loss and better temperature stability in the temperature range from RT to 150 °C. The ceramics prepared by different synthesis methods exhibited different dielectric relaxation behaviors. In the view of the calculated activation energy value, the doubly ionization of oxygen vacancies was involved into NBCTO ceramics.

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