Synthesis and structure of BiFeO3:RE (RE=Gd3+, Dy3+, Nd3+) ceramics

In the present work the influence of rare earth elements concentration (0-10at-%) on BiFeO3:RE (RE=Gd3+, Dy3+, Nd3+) ceramics were studied. All ceramic powders were synthesized by conventional ceramic method using high purity raw materials (>99,9%), and subsequently sintered by free sintering and cold pressing method. To analyze the powders and ceramics more the XRD, EDS, SEM, and DTA were performed

Influence of Dy doping on the properties of BiFeO3

The aim of this research was to fabricate and study the properties of Bi1-x DyxFeO3 (for x = 0, 0.05, 0.07, 0.1) ceramics materials. Simple oxide powders Bi2O3, Dy2O3 and Fe2O3 were used to fabricate Bi1-xDyxFeO3 ceramics by mixed oxide method followed by free sintering. The study presents changes in microstructure and crystal structure as well as in dielectric properties and magnetic properties caused by modification of BiFeO3 with dysprosium dopant

Influence of calcium doping on microstructure, dielectric and electric properties of BaBi2Nb2O9 ceramics

Barium bismuth niobiate (BaBi2Nb2O9) ceramics modified by calcium were prepared by solid state synthesis and two-step sintering process. An impact of calcium substitution on the A site of perovskite block is presented. The investigations are focused on dielectric as well as electric aspects of the modification. The presented results reveal that the concentration of a space charge is not preserved, what is surprising due to the homovalent nature of the dopant and no reason for creating additional lattice defects and charges connected. However, not only the valence of ions, but also the calcium-oxygen and barium–oxygen bond strength should be taken into consideration. Since the calcium–oxygen bond is probably weaker the loss of the bismuth oxide is expected to increase with an increase in the calcium content. Such a scenario results in appearance of a large number of negative charge carriers connected with unsaturated oxygen ions

Low temperature broad band dielectric spectroscopy of multiferroic Bi6Fe2Ti3O18 ceramics

In the present research the tool of broadband dielectric spectroscopy was utilized to characterize dielectric behavior of Bi6Fe2Ti3O18 (BFTO) Aurivillius-type multiferroic ceramics. Dielectric response of BFTO ceramics was studied in the frequency domain (=0.1Hz-10MHz) within the temperature range =-100°C-200°C. The Kramers-Kronig data validation test was employed to validate the impedance data measurements and it was found that the measured impedance data exhibited good quality justifying further analysis. The residuals were found to be less than 1%, whereas the chi-square parameter was within the range 10-7-10-5. Experimental data were analyzed using the circle fit of simple impedance arc plotted in the complex Z-Z' plane (Nyquist plot). The total ac conductivity of the grain boundaries was thus revealed and the activation energy of ac conductivity for the grain boundaries was calculated. It was found that activation energy of ac conductivity of grain boundaries changes from EA=0.20eV to EA=0.55eV while temperature rises from T=-100°C up to T=200°C. On the base of maxima of the impedance semicircles (mm=1) the relaxation phenomena were characterized in terms of the temperature dependence of relaxation times and relevant activation energy was calculated (EA=0.55eV)

Influence of Processing Conditions on Crystal Structure of Bi6Fe2Ti3O18 Ceramics

Aim of the present research was to apply a solid state reaction route to fabricate Aurivillius-type ceramics described with the formula Bi6Fe2Ti3O18 (BFTO) and reveal the influence of processing conditions on its crystal structure. Pressureless sintering in ambient air was employed and the sintering temperatures were 850 and 1080 degrees C. It was found that the fabricated BFTO ceramics were multiphase ones. They consisted of two Bim+1Fem-3Ti3O3m+3 phases, namely the phase with m=5 (i.e. the stoichiometric phase) and m=4 (i.e. the phase with a reduced number of layers in the slab). Detailed X-ray diffraction patterns analysis showed that both phases adopted the same orthorhombic structure described with Fmm2 (42) space group. The ratio of weight fractions of the constituent phases (m=5): (m=4) was similar to 30:70

Influence of lanthanum dopant on the structure and electric properties of BaBi2Nb2O9 ceramics

The paper reports the consequences of lanthanum modifications of barium bismuth niobiate (BaBi2Nb2O9) ceramics. The discussed materials were prepared by solid state synthesis and a one-step sintering process. The investigations are focused on dielectric aspects of the modification. The presented results reveal that the trivalent lanthanum ions incorporate twovalent barium ions, which is connected with the creation of A-site cationic vacancies as well as oxygen vacancies. Such a scenario results in significant decreasing in grain boundaries resistivity. The activation energy of grain boundaries conductivity is significantly reduced in the case of lanthanum admixture

Impedance Spectroscopy of Pr-Doped BaBi₂Nb₂O₉ Aurivillius Ceramics

Herein this study, the polycrystalline nature of the Aurivillius type structure is studied; primarily, the main objective is to observe the influence of dopant Pr3+ at the Ba2+-site of BaBi2Nb2O9 (BBN) ceramics. The ceramics under investigation were fabricated via the conventional solid-state reaction method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS) techniques were used to analyse their morphological structure. It was found that the chemical composition of the ceramic samples corresponds well to the initial stoichiometry of the ceramic powders. An increase in praseodymium content caused a slight decrease in the average size of the ceramic grains. The obtained ceramic materials are described by a tetragonal structure with the space group I4/mmm. The electrical properties of the material have been studied using complex impedance spectroscopy methods in wide temperature and frequency ranges. The analysis of obtained results showed grains and grain boundaries contribute to conductive processes in the material. A possible ’hopping’ mechanism for electrical transport processes in the system is evident from the analysis of results based on Joncher law