Processing, Microstructure and Properties of Nanograin Barium Titanate Ceramics by Spark Plasma Sintering

Bulk dense nanocrystalline BaTiO3 ceramics ranging from 15 nm to 100 nm have been successfully prepared by the spark plasma sintering method. Raman spectra and X-ray diffraction were used in combination with electron microscopy to study the evolution of lattice structure and phase transformation behavior with grain growth from nanoscale to micrometre scale for BaTiO3 ceramics. Scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy measurements revealed temperature-dependent variations in contrast, which were attributed to domain rearrangements in BaTiO3 ceramics below 100 nm. Furthermore the piezoresponse hysteresis loops showed that the nanocrystalline BaTiO3 ceramics were switchable and ferroelectricity was retained at the high temperature of 290 oC, demonstrating the existence of nano ferroelectric domains and the ferroelectric phase still retained above Curie temperature, which confirmed the diffused phase transition character in nanograin BaTiO3 ceramics. The dielectric data also show a ferroelectric to paraelectric phase transition in nanograin BaTiO3 ceramics.