Synergistic homovalent and heterovalent substitution effects on piezoelectric and relaxor behavior in lead-free BaTiO3 ceramics

Focusing on piezoelectric, ferroelectric, and relaxor behaviors, this research employs a comprehensive suite of analyses, including temperature-dependent dielectric measurements, polarization-electric field hysteresis loops, and bipolar strain measurements.

Significantly, our study unveils that the simultaneous substitution of Zr and Nb in the BT lattice induces roomtemperature relaxor behavior at relatively low concentrations (5 % Zr and 3 % Nb), yielding higher permittivity and larger maximum polarization compared to single element (Zr or Nb) substituted BT relaxors. Bipolar strain measurements showcase substantial large-signal d33* values (~250 pm/V) across a broad temperature range (–50 ◦C to 30 ◦C) for BT ceramics with simultaneous 5 % Zr and 2 % Nb substitution.