The lead content in piezoelectric ceramic (lead-zirconate-titanate) capacitors is a major draw back due to its hazardous nature. As a result, alternate materials must be sought. The Ba0.91Ca0.09Sn0.01Ti0.99O3 (BCST) ceramic was synthesized via solid-state synthesis and studied via energy dispersive spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and dielectric measurements for use in ceramic capacitors. The BCST ceramic EDS spectrum confirmed Ca, Ba, O, Sn and Ti, as well as a trace quantity of C, Au, and Pd impurities. As determined by ImageJ, the SEM image shows grains of inhomogeneous shape and porosity with a nonuniform distribution of grains and an average grain size of 1.64 μm. The XRD results show that a crystalline ceramic with a tetragonal perovskite structure and an average crystalline size of 26.35 nm exists. The evolution of the FTIR and dielectric behavior reveals the presence of two phase transitions, TR-O and TO-T (tetragonal-orthorhombic phase transition at 150and#176;C and orthorhombic-tetragonal phase transition at 500and#176;C), as well as a dielectric constant relaxation behavior that makes it suitable for use in ceramic capacitors. The properties obtained are suitable for the manufacture of multilayer ceramic capacitors using Ba0.91Ca0.09Sn0.01Ti0.99O3.
Daniel et al. (Wed,) studied this question.