Very-low temperature synthesis of pure and crystalline lead-free Ba .85 Ca .15 Zr .1 Ti .9 O 3 ceramic

Abstract The site-doping strategy of barium titanate (BaTiO 3 ) is a promising way to develop new lead-free materials for energy with enhanced dielectric and piezoelectric properties. A novel strategy to elaborated pure and crystalline Ba .85 Ca .15 Zr .1 Ti .9 O 3 (BCZT) ferroelectric powders at low temperature is proposed. It is based on sol-gel method followed by a hydrothermal reaction. The effects of preparation temperature on structure, crystallinity, purity, morphology and particles size distribution of BCZT powders were studied. It was clearly shown that pure and crystalline BCZT could be obtained over 80 °C. Furthermore, the BCZT particles exhibit a spherical shape whose mean size increases from 145 nm at 40 °C to 160 nm at 80 °C. The present study may provide a new strategy to design lead-free ferroelectric materials with enhanced structure and microstructure properties at very low temperature.