BaTiO3 ceramics toughened by dispersed coarse particles

A new approach was proposed and investigated for toughening BaTiO3 ceramics, where coarse BaTiO3 particles were incorporated and dispersed into the fine-grained matrix. The fracture toughness was enhanced significantly by increasing the content of coarse BaTiO3 particles and reached the maximum of 2.0 MPam1/2, while that of the matrix was 1.1 MPam1/2. The piezoelectric properties showed slight variation in comparison to the reference BaTiO3 ceramics.