Electrical properties of antimony doped barium titanate ceramics

Antimony doped barium titanate powders were synthesized by polymeric precursors method based on modified Pechini process. Obtained powders were pressed and sintered at 1300 °C for 8 h. XRD analysis showed the formation of tetragonal crystal structure in barium titanate ceramics. The decrease of tetragonality was noticed with antimony concentration increase. The influence of antimony concentration on structure change, grain size reduction and microstructure development was analyzed. Dielectric behavior of pure and antimony doped ceramics showed the change from classical to diffuse ferroelectric material. A modified Curie–Weiss law was used to explore the connection between doping level and the degree of diffuseness of phase transition. The analysis of impedance at higher temperatures showed the presence of both grain interior and grain boundary effects. Modest PTCR jump was observed in the doped barium titanate ceramics.