Thermal and dynamic mechanical analyses on Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3–BaTiO3 ceramics synthesized with citrate method

Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3–xBaTiO3 (BNT–xBT) nano-powders are successfully synthesized by a modified citrate method. The as-prepared BNT-BT powders and the sintered ceramics are homogeneous with a pure perovskite crystal structure. The effects of Ba2+ substitutions for (Bi0.5Na0.5)2+ in the A-sites of Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 on its phase transformations are explored. The transformations among ferroelectric (FE), anti-ferroelectric (AFE) and paraelectric (PE) states in these ceramics are characterized using ferroelectric hysteresis tests, modulated differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis. The FE-AFE transition in BNT–xBT with 0≤x≤0.15 is found to relate with a structural transformation which is a first-order phase transition. The mechanical and thermal analyses provide evidence that AFE state (0≤x≤0.15) could be associated with the incommensurate modulation of rhombohedral structures while the mechanisms of forming AFE state in BNT–xBT (x>0.15) could be different.