Improved Insulating Characteristics of Dy³⁺‐Doped Bi0.5Na0.5TiO₃ Ceramics

Polycrystalline Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 TiO 3 (BNT) and (Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 ) 0.95 Dy 0.05 TiO 3 (BNDT5) ceramics are prepared through solid‐state reaction method, and their electrical properties are investigated. Dysprosium (Dy 3+ ) incorporation in BNT (BNDT5) reduces three times dielectric loss at elevated temperature (500 °C) from BNT ceramic. Nyquist plot revealed a depressed semicircle in both BNT and BNDT5 ceramics, signifying non‐Debye type relaxation. The conductivity ( σ g ) for BNDT5 is 9.02 mS cm −1 and for BNT is 0.894 mS cm −1 . It indicates that the conductivity reduces ≈11 times from the undoped BNT at 500 °C. The activation energy for BNT and BNDT5 is 0.46 ± 0.06 and 0.52 ± 0.11 eV, respectively, at 400–500 °C, indicating a reduction in the grain conduction for BNDT5 from BNT ceramic. The dielectric and impedance spectroscopy result reveals BNDT5 ceramic becomes significantly more resistive, electrically homogeneous, and reduces the dielectric loss with BNT. The possible reasons for reducing dielectric loss and suppressing leakage current in BNDT5 from BNT ceramic sample are discussed by using conduction mechanism. The findings of this work are useful for enhancing the insulating behavior of BNT‐based dielectrics and for developing interesting piezoelectric properties suitable for various device applications.