Effect of B-Site Zr Substitution on Structural, Dielectric, Ferroelectric, and Energy Storage Properties of BaTiO ₃ Ceramics

Perovskite Zr-doped BaTiO 3 (BaZr x Ti 1-x O 3 ) (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3) materials were synthesized via the conventional high-temperature double-sintering ceramic technique to study the effect of B-site doping on structural, dielectric, and energy storage performance. Confirmed the formation of a single-phase tetragonal perovskite structure for all samples by using X-ray diffraction analysis. With increasing zirconium concentration, the sample exhibits a transition from diffuse phase transition behavior to a relaxor-like state, along with a decrease in crystallite size. Measurement of dielectric properties reveals a maximum dielectric constant (~8456.36) for BaZr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 , while P–E hysteresis loops confirm the ferroelectric nature, exhibiting a maximum energy density of 255 mJ cm -3 , low energy loss of 70 mJ cm -3 , and a peak efficiency of 78.70%. Electrical analysis indicate that the conduction mechanism is governed by small polaron hopping and correlated barrier hopping processes. Under an applied electric field, the composition x = 0.1 exhibits a high piezoelectric coefficient (d 33 ≈ 178 pC N -1 ). This study confirms BaZr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 as an optimized lead-free ceramic with promising potential for advanced dielectric, energy storage, and piezoelectric applications.