Preparation and characterization of high T _c (1-x) BiScO ₃-xPbTiO₃ ceramics from high energy ball milling process

(1-x)BiScO₃-xPbTiO₃ powders were synthesized from a mixture of the oxides Bi₂O₃, Sc₂O₃, PbO and TiO₂ using a Fritsch P4™ vario-planetary ball milling systems. The pure perovskite structure of BS-PT powder can well be obtained and the crystallite size of the powders was greatly reduced to 18-25 nm after milling 4 h. The rhombohedral-tetragonal phase boundary was observed for the ceramics sintered at 1,000-1,100 °C when x was around 0.64 and 3-7 μm grain size was obtained, which is smaller than traditional method. High Curie temperature (T _c) and high dielectric constant can be obtained at the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). As PbTiO₃ contents increased from 60 to 68 mol%, the Curie temperature T _c shifted toward higher temperature and the maximum dielectric constant increased. The experimental results demonstrate that the high-energy ball milling process is a promising method to prepare BS-PT materials.