Effect of Firing Conditions on Phase Formation, Microstructure, and Electrical Properties of (K0.5Na0.5)(Nb0.7Ta0.3)O3 Ceramics Synthesized by Solid-State Combustion Method

The effect of the firing conditions on the phase formation, microstructure, and electrical properties of (K0.5Na0.5)(Nb0.7Ta0.3)O3 (KNNT) ceramics synthesized by the solid-state combustion technique using glycine as fuel has been investigated. All samples were calcined at 600°C to 800°C for 2 h and sintered at 1150°C to 1190°C for 2 h to 5 h. Pure KNNT powders were produced after calcination at 600°C for 2 h. The average particle size increased when the calcination temperature was increased. The KNNT powder calcined at 600°C for 2 h showed rather square morphology with average particle size of ∼ 160 nm. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis results for the ceramics revealed the presence of orthorhombic (O) and tetragonal (T) phases in all samples. When sintering at 1150°C for 4 h, the O:T ratio was 50:50, as verified by the Rietveld refinement technique. The average grain size, density values, and dielectric properties tended to increase when the dwell time was increased from 2 h to 4 h, but then degraded. The KNNT ceramic produced at the optimum firing condition (1150°C for 4 h) showed good crystalline morphology, the highest density (ρ = 5.28 g/cm3), the highest dielectric constant (eC = 5002), and good ferroelectric behavior (Pr = 18.50 μC/cm2 and Ec = 9.04 kV/cm).