Perovskite phase formation and ferroelectric properties of the lead nickel niobate–lead zinc niobate–lead zirconate titanate ternary system

The ternary system of lead nickel niobate Pb(Ni_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ (PNN), lead zinc niobate Pb(Zn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ (PZN), and lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr_1/2Ti_1/2)O₃ (PZT) was investigated to determine the influence of different solid state processing conditions on dielectric and ferroelectric properties. The ceramic materials were characterized using x-ray diffraction, dielectric measurements, and hysteresis measurements. To stabilize the perovskite phase, the columbite route was utilized with a double crucible technique and excess PbO. The phase-pure perovskite phase of PNN–PZN–PZT ceramics was obtained over a wide compositional range. It was observed that for the ternary system 0.5PNN–(0.5 - x)PZN–xPZT, the change in the transition temperature (T_m) is approximately linear with respect to the PZT content in the range x [H11505] 0 to 0.5. With an increase in x, T_m shifts up to high temperatures. Examination of the remanent polarization (P_r) revealed a significant increase with increasing x. In addition, the relative permittivity ([H9280]_r) increased as a function of x. The highest permittivities ([H9280]_r [H11505] 22,000) and the highest remanent polarization (P_r [H11505] 25 μC/cm²) were recorded for the binary composition 0.5Pb(Ni_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃–0.5Pb(Zr_1/2Ti_1/2)O₃.