Large field-induced strain with enhanced temperature-stable dielectric properties of AgNbO3-modified (Bi0.5Na0.5)0.94Ba0.06TiO3 lead-free ceramics

Abstract (1-x)(Bi0.5Na0.5)0.94Ba0.06TiO3-xAgNbO3 lead-free piezoelectric ceramics (abbreviated as BNBT-100xAN) were prepared using the conventional solid-state sintering method. The effects of the introduction of AgNbO3 (AN) dopants for the dielectric and piezoelectric performances of BNBT-100xAN ceramics were systematically studied. The XRD patterns and Raman spectra demonstrated that AN as a modifier was successfully diffused into the BNBT-100xAN lattice and revealed a pseudo-cubic symmetry structure. All samples exhibited a dense surface morphology accompanied by the uniform distribution of elements. A large bipolar strain of ∼ 0.501 % and unipolar strain of ∼ 0.481 % corresponding to the normalized strain d33* of ∼ 740 pm/V were achieved for BNBT-1AN ceramic at 65 kV/cm field. The BNBT-4AN ceramic exhibited an excellent temperature-stable permittivity with the range from 59 to 380 °C and its dielectric loss was less than 0.02 between 97 °C and 329 °C. These results revealed that BNBT-100xAN ceramics were more hopeful candidates for actuators, strain sensors, and high-temperature capacitors.