Sol-gel derived CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ ceramics: Synthesis, characterization and electrical properties

The giant dielectric constant material CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (CCTO) has been synthesized by sol-gel method, for the first time, using nitrate and alkoxide precursor. The electrical properties of CCTO ceramics, showing an enormously large dielectric constant ε ∼ 60,000 (100 Hz at RT), were investigated in the temperature range from 298 to 358 K at 0, 5, 10, 20, and 40 V dc. The phases, microstructures, and impedance properties of final samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and precision impedance analyzer. The dielectric permittivity of CCTO synthesized by sol-gel method is at least three times of magnitude larger than that synthesized by other low-temperature method and solid-state reaction method. Furthermore, the results support the internal barrier layer capacitor (IBLC) model of Schottky barriers at grain boundaries between semiconducting grains.