Preparation and properties of Nd-doped BCTH lead-free ceramics by solid-phase twin crystal method

0.5 mol% Nd-doped (Ba0.85Ca0.15)(Ti0.9Hf0.1)O3 (BCTH-Nd) lead-free ceramics were prepared by a solid-phase twin crystal method, where the effects of sintering condition on structure, electrical and optical properties were studied. All the sintered BCTH-Nd ceramics exhibit pure perovskite structure, dense microstructure with several micron grain size, which tends to increase with elevating sintering temperature. All synthesized ceramics have complex dielectric behavior, which presents normal ferroelectrics characteristic with slight dispersion phenomenon. The BCTH-Nd ceramics exhibit excellent piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties and acceptable dielectric performance when sintered at 1480 °C for 2 h. Under 269 nm light excitation, several fluorescent emission peaks are excited with a whole indigo fluorescence, where the strongest emission peak is emitted at 473 nm, corresponding to the 4G3/2 → 4I9/2 energy level transition of Nd3+. Multifunctional performance is fulfilled in the lead-free BCTH ceramics via rare earth doping, which can broaden the application fields of piezoelectric-based materials.