Microstructure and electrical properties of (Ba0.6Sr0.4)0.85Bi0.1TiO3 ceramics prepared by single-step, liquid-phase, solid-state reactive sintering

(Ba0.6Sr0.4)0.85Bi0.1TiO3 ceramics have been obtained by single-step, liquid-phase, solid-state reactive sintering in the temperature range 1250–1350 °C using stoichiometric amounts of BaTiO3, SrTiO3 and Bi4Ti3O12. Their microstructure and electrical properties have been studied by X-Ray diffraction and fluorescence, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and impedance spectroscopy. The relative density, Dr, relative permittivity, ε′r, and dissipation factor, tan δ, at room temperature and the bulk and grain boundary resistivity, Rb and Rgb, and activation energies, Eba and Egba, are approximately independent of the sintering temperature with values around e.g. Dr ~97.5 %, ε′r ~1790, tan δ ~0.06 %, R500oCb ~26 kΩ cm, Egba ~1.03 eV, R500oCgb ~217 kΩ cm and Egba ~1.41 eV. By contrast, the temperature coefficient of capacitance, TCC, increases linearly from ~10 ppm oC−1 to ~21 ppm oC−1 on increasing sintering temperature. Comments on the influence of the sintering temperature on the chemical composition of the ceramics are made