Low-Temperature Sintering of Bi(Ni(0.5)Ti(0.5))O(3)-BiFeO(3)-Pb(Zr(0.5)Ti(0.5))O(3) Ceramics and Their Performance.

A low-temperature sintering strategy was realized for preparing 0.21Bi(Ni(0.5)Ti(0.5))O(3)-0.05BiFeO(3)-0.74Pb(Zr(0.5)Ti(0.5))O(3) (0.21BNT-0.05BF-0.74PZT) ceramics by conventional ceramic processing by adding low melting point BiFeO(3) and additional sintering aid LiBO(2). Pure perovskite 0.21BNT-0.05BF-0.74PZT ceramics are prepared at relatively low sintering temperatures, and their structure presents tetragonal distortion that is affected slightly by the sintering temperature. The 1030 °C sintered samples have high densification accompanied by relatively large grains. All ceramics have excellent dielectric performance with a relatively high temperature of dielectric constant maximum, and present an apparent relaxation characteristic. A narrow sintering temperature range exists in the 0.21BNT-0.05BF-0.74PZT system, and the 1030 °C sintered 0.21BNT-0.05BF-0.74PZT ceramics exhibit overall excellent electrical performance. The high-temperature conductivity can be attributed to the oxygen vacancies' conduction produced by the evaporation of Pb and Bi during sintering revealed by energy dispersive X-ray measurement.