Phase structure and electromechanical behavior of Li, Nb co-doped 0.95Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃–0.05BaZrO₃ ceramics

In this work, the effect of Li, Nb co-doping on the structural phase, dielectric, ferroelectric and field induced strain behavior of 0.95Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃–0.05BaZrO₃ (BNT-BZ5) ceramic was investigated. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed the formation of single phase perovskite structure in the studied composition range. However, with increasing Li, Nb co-doping concentration, the maximum dielectric constant decreased and the dielectric maximum temperature (T_m) slightly shifted towards higher temperature. The field induced strain response increased from 0.18% for pure BNT-BZ5 to 0.38% for 1 mol.% Li, Nb modified BNT-BZ5 sample. The corresponding dynamic piezoelectric coefficient for these composition were (S_max/E_max = 257 pm/V) and (S_max/E_max = 542 pm/V), respectively. These results suggest that the BNLTN–BZ ceramic can be considered as a promising candidate material for piezoelectric application.