Relaxor behavior of (K0.5Bi0.5)TiO3 ceramics derived from molten salt synthesized single-crystalline nanowires

Single-crystalline K0.5Bi0.5TiO3 nanowires have been fabricated by a large scale and facile molten salt synthetic method in a KCl medium. Pristine nanowires have diameters of about 40 nm and lengths exceeding 4 mu m, and they possess tetragonal perovskite structure. The K0.5Bi0.5TiO3 ceramics with a relative density above 98% can be fabricated from high quality nanowires. A broad dielectric peak with frequency dependent dielectric maximum temperature was observed, which can be well fitted by a modified Curie-Weiss law and a Vogel-Fulcher relationship. The suggested relaxor behavior in K0.5Bi0.5TiO3 composition is possibly due to the A-site compositional fluctuations at the nanolevel. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.