Structure-property relations of ferroelectric BaTiO<inf>3</inf>ceramics containing nano-sized Si<inf>3</inf>N<inf>4</inf>particulates

Abstract

Barium titanate/silicon nitride (BaTiO3/xSi3N4) powder (when x = 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1 and 3 wt%) were prepared by solid-state mixed-oxide method and sintered at 1400°C for 2 h. X-ray diffraction result suggested that tetragonality (c/a) of the BaTiO3/xSi3N4ceramics increased with increasing content of Si3N4. Density and grain size of BaTiO3/xSi3N4ceramic were found to increase for small addition (i.e. 0.1 and 0.5 wt%) of Si3N4mainly due to the presence of liquid phase during sintering. BaTiO3ceramics containing such amount of Si3N4also showed improved dielectric and ferroelectric properties. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.