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Structural, Optical, and Piezoelectric Response of Lead‐Free Ba 0.95 Mg 0.05 Zr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 Nanocrystalline Powder
Author(s) -
Bhimireddi Rajasekhar,
Ponraj Bharathi,
Varma Kalidindi B. R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/jace.14018
Subject(s) - crystallite , nanocrystalline material , materials science , raman spectroscopy , analytical chemistry (journal) , tetragonal crystal system , photoluminescence , scanning electron microscope , transmission electron microscopy , scherrer equation , phase (matter) , x ray crystallography , crystallography , crystal structure , diffraction , nanotechnology , chemistry , optics , metallurgy , composite material , physics , optoelectronics , organic chemistry , chromatography
Nanocrystalline powders of Ba 1− x Mg x Zr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 ( x = 0.025–0.1) were synthesized via citrate assisted sol–gel method. Interestingly, the one with x = 0.05 in the system Ba 1− x Mg x Zr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 exhibited fairly good piezoelectric response aside from the other physical properties. The phase and structural confirmation of synthesized powder was established by X‐ray powder diffraction ( XRD ) and Raman Spectroscopic techniques. Two distinct Raman bands i.e., 303 and 723 cm −1 characteristic of tetragonal phase were observed. Thermogravimetric analysis ( TGA ) was performed to evaluate the phase decomposition of the as‐synthesized Ba 0.95 Mg 0.05 Zr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 sample as a function of temperature. The average crystallite size associated with Ba 0.95 Mg 0.05 Zr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 was calculated using Scherrer formula based on the XRD data and was found to be 25 nm. However, Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy studies revealed the average crystallite size to be in the range of 30–40 nm, respectively. Kubelka–Munk function was employed to determine the optical band gap of these nanocrystallites. A piezoelectric response of 26 pm/V was observed for Ba 0.95 Mg 0.05 Zr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 nanocrystal by Piezoresponse Force Microscopy ( PFM ) technique. Photoluminescence ( PL ) study carried out on these nanocrystals exhibited a blue emission (470 nm) at room temperature.