Low Temperature Sintering of (Ba<sub>0.98</sub>Ca<sub>0.02</sub>)(Sn<sub>0.04</sub>Ti<sub>0.96</sub>)O<sub>3</sub> Ceramics Using CuO-B<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> as a Sintering Additive

The effects of CuO-B 2 O 3 (CBO) additive on densification, microstructure, and electrical properties of (Ba 0.98 Ca 0.02 )(Sn 0.04 Ti 0.96 )O 3 (BCST) cermaics were investigated. The phase compositions, microstructure, dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of BCST ceramics were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), precision impedance analyzer, ferroelectric tester and quasi-static piezoelectric constant testing meter, respectively. The results show that CuO-B 2 O 3 (CBO) frit can improve the densification and promote low-temperature sintering of BCST ceramics prepared by a conventional solid-state reaction method. Dense BCST ceramics with CBO can be sintered at temperatures as low as 1175 °C, which is approximately 275 °C less than the sintering temperature of pure BCST. When sintered at 1200 °C, the optimized properties of the BCST ceramics with 0.5 wt% CBO were obtain as ε = 1206, d 33 = 346 pC/N, k P = 0.39, tgδ = 0.009.