Fabrication and electrical properties of textured Ba(Zr _0.2Ti_0.8)O₃-(Ba_0.7Ca _0.3)TiO₃ ceramics using plate-like BaTiO₃ particles as templates

Plate-like BaTiO₃ (BT) particles were used as templates to fabricate grain-oriented Ba(Zr_0.2Ti_0.8)O ₃-(Ba_0.7Ca_0.3)TiO₃ (BZT-BCT) ceramics. The effects of the sintering temperature and the soaking time on the microstructure and electrical properties of the textured BZT-BCT ceramics were investigated. The results show that textured ceramics were obtained with orientation factor better than 0.5. The textured BZT-BCT ceramics have rhombohedral and tetragonal structures. Terrace morphology can be observed in the grains and the mechanism of grain growth is multi-nucleation multilayer growth. The T_R-T and T_C of BZT-BCT ceramics shift to higher temperature as the soaking time increases. Textured structures improve the dielectric, piezoelectric properties, and weaken the dielectric relaxor characteristics. When BZT-BCT ceramics sintered at 1,500 °C for 20 h, the maximum piezoelectric coefficient of 350 pC/N can be obtained.