Structure–property relations of ferroelectric BaTiO3 ceramics containing nano-sized Si3N4 particulates

Barium titanate/silicon nitride (BaTiO3/xSi3N4) powder (when x = 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1 and 3 wt%) were prepared by solid-state mixed-oxide method and sintered at 1400 °C for 2 h. X-ray diffraction result suggested that tetragonality (c/a) of the BaTiO3/xSi3N4 ceramics increased with increasing content of Si3N4. Density and grain size of BaTiO3/xSi3N4 ceramic were found to increase for small addition (i.e. 0.1 and 0.5 wt%) of Si3N4 mainly due to the presence of liquid phase during sintering. BaTiO3 ceramics containing such amount of Si3N4 also showed improved dielectric and ferroelectric properties.