Microstructure and electrical properties of MnO-doped (Na0.5Bi0.5)(0.92)Ba0.08TiO3 lead-free piezoceramics

Microstructure and electrical properties of manganese oxide (MnO)-doped (Na0.5Bi0.5)(0.92)Ba0.08TiO3 (NBBT) piezoceramics were investigated in this work. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the suitable substitution of Mn ion into the B site induces the lattice distortion of perovskite NBBT: the solution limit is at 0.3 wt% MnO. Besides, it is observed that the sintering properties can be improved by adding a small amount of MnO, thus increasing the grain size and the relative density. Further, the temperature dependence of the dielectric permittivity of NBBT ceramics indicates that the MnO addition reconstructs the disorder array destroyed by joining BaTiO3 in the Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 system due to the sizable radius of the B-site cations. Combining these effects of MnO addition, the optimal electrical properties were acquired for NBBT ceramic with addition of 0.30 wt% MnO. The excellent electrical properties of MnO-doped NBBT ceramics indicate its promising application in large displacement actuators.