Electrical properties and low temperature sintering of BiAlO3 doped (Ba0.85Ca0.15)(Zr0.1Ti0.9)O3 lead-free piezoelectric ceramics

(1 - x)(Ba0.85Ca0.15)(Zr0.1Ti0.9)O-3-xBiAlO(3)((1 - x)BCZT-xBAO) piezoelectric ceramics were synthesized by a solid-state reaction method. Effects of BAO content on the sintering temperature, phase structure, microstructure and electrical properties of BCZT ceramics were investigated. X-ray diffraction revealed a phase transition from orthorhombic to tetragonal phases at x = 0.3-1.0 mol%. The grain size gradually becomes smaller with increasing the BAO content. It was observed that the introduction of BAO content not only decreased the sintering temperature from 1450 to 1300 A degrees C but also enhanced the electrical properties and temperature stability. The favorable electrical properties (d (33) = 568 pC/N, k (p) = 0.54, P (r) = 8.17 A mu C/cm(2), E (c) = 3.45 kV/cm, epsilon (m) = 13,298, epsilon (r) = 3375, tan delta = 0.021, T (c) = 72 A degrees C and S = 0.06 %) were demonstrated for the BCZT based ceramics sintered at 1300 A degrees C with x = 0.8 mol%. These results indicated that the ceramics sintered at low temperatures was promising for piezoelectric applications.