Influence of Bi2O3 and CuO addition on low-temperature sintering and dielectric properties of Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 ceramics

In this study, we tried to lower the sintering temperature of Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 (BST) ceramics by several kinds of adding methods of Bi2O3, CuO and CuBi2O4 additives. The effects of different adding methods on the microstructures and the dielectric properties of BST ceramics have been studied. In the all additive systems, the single addition of CuBi2O4 was the most effective way for lowering the sintering temperature of BST. When CuBi2O4 of 0.6 mol% was mixed with starting BST powders and sintered at 1100 degrees C. the derived ceramics demonstrated dense microstructure with a low dielectric constant (epsilon = 4240), low dielectric loss (tan delta = 0.0058), high tunability (Tun = 38.3%) and high Q value (Q = 251). It was noteworthy that the sintering temperature was significantly lowered by 350 degrees C compared with no-additive system, and the derived ceramics maintained the excellent microwave dielectric properties corresponding to pure BST. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.