In the present work, it is shown how the controlled porosity can be exploited to obtain a compromise between a reduced permittivity down to a few hundreds and maintaining a high tunability level as in the dense material, to fulfill requirements for tunable applications. Nb‐doped Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 ceramics with porosity in the range 5%‐30% have been prepared by direct sintering method. X‐ray diffraction analysis and Rietveld refinement indicated a co‐existence of tetragonal and monoclinic phases in the porous ceramics. Dielectric properties revealed a gradual reduction in permittivity when increasing the porosity level, while maintaining low dielectric losses below 3%. The ferroelectric switching behavior is also influenced by the porosity level: a continuous reduction in the saturation and remnant polarization is observed with increasing porosity. The nonlinear dielectric properties of all the investigated ceramics preserve a high level of tunability in comparison with one of the dense material, irrespective of the porosity level, while zero field permittivity was decreased below 1000. An optimum behavior is found for the ceramic sample with 25% porosity, which shows a high tunability, smaller losses, and moderate dielectric constant (ε ~600).

No abstract

No abstract

Particulate composites of ferrite and ferroelectric phases with xNiFe2O4 (NF) and (1 − x)Pb0.988(Zr0.52Ti0.48)0.976Nb0.024O3 (where x = 2, 10, 20, 30, 50, 70, and 100 wt. %) were prepared in situ by sol-gel method. The presence of a diphase composition was confirmed by X-ray diffraction while the microstructure of the composites was studied by scanning electron microscopy revealing a good mixing of the two phases and a good densification of the bulk ceramics. The dielectric permittivity shows usual dielectric dispersion behavior with increasing frequency due to Maxwell-Wagner interfacial polarization. AC conductivity measurements made in frequency range 1 Hz-1 MHz suggest that the conduction process is due to mixed polaron hopping. The effect of NF phase concentration on the P-E and M-H hysteresis behavior and dielectric properties of the composites was investigated. At low NF concentration a sharp ferro-paraelectric transition peak can be observed at around 360 °C while for higher NF concentrations a trend to a diffuse phase transition occurs. All the composite samples exhibit typical ferromagnetic hysteresis loops, indicating the presence of ordered magnetic structure.