Effects of thermal treatment on piezoelectric and dielectric properties of zirconium modified barium titanate ceramics

In this work, zirconium doped barium titanate ceramics were prepared via a solid state technique. After sintering at 1,450°C for 2h, the ceramics were annealed at 1,200°C for 4-16 h. Effects of the thermal treatment on the electrical properties of the ceramics were investigated. An improvement in strain level and piezoelectric coefficient were observed especially for the sample annealed for 8 h. Bipolar strain level and piezoelectric coefficients (d*₃₃) of the 8 h sample were 0.26% and 326 pm/V, respectively. The dielectric constants of the annealed samples were also significantly improved. The piezoelectric and dielectric properties could be correlated with changes in densification and microstructure.