Effect of Mn coating materials of the nano-powders on phase transition of the nano-grained BaTiO3 ceramics

Abstract Nano-grained BaTiO 3 ceramics prepared from 40 nm size BaTiO 3 nano-powders exhibited the cubic as well as the tetragonal phase, while the nano-grained BaTiO 3 ceramics prepared from the BaTiO 3 nano-powders coated with Mn had only the tetragonal phase. The variation of phase transition of the BaTiO 3 ceramics appeared to be significantly affected by the grain boundary features; the effect of the grain boundary features resulted in the phase transition from the cubic to the tetragonal phase in the nano-grained BaTiO 3 ceramics, even though the grain size was about 40 nm. The chemical origin of the effect of grain boundary on the phase transition of the nano-grained BaTiO 3 ceramics was strongly suggested.