Effect of sintering temperature on the phase structure and electrical properties of Al–N co-doped BaTiO3 piezoceramics

BaTiO3 and 1.5 mol% AlN/BaTiO3 (AlN/BT) piezoceramics were prepared via a conventional solid-state reaction method. The effects of sintering temperature on the phase structure, preferential orientation degree of Al3+–N3− pairs and electrical properties of the ceramics were investigated and analyzed. The AlN/BT ceramic sintered at 1325 °C obtains the optimum piezoelectric properties of d33 = 305 pC N−1, kp = 0.33 and Qm = 140 due to the preferential distribution of Al3+–N3− pairs and suitable sintering temperature. The high temperature stability testing reveals that these AlN-doped BT ceramics are useable at temperatures as high as approximately 115 °C. These properties indicate that this system is a potential high piezoelectric lead-free candidate material to be further studied.