Enhanced sintering behavior and electrical properties of single phase BiFeO3 prepared by attrition milling and conventional sintering

Abstract

Dense and single phase BiFeO3 (BFO) ceramics were prepared using attrition milled calcined (coarse) powders of an average particle size of ≈3 μm by conventional sintering process. A relative density of ≈96% with average grain size 7.3 μm was obtained when the powder compacts were sintered at 850°C even for a shorter duration of 10 min. In contrast, densification barely occurred at 800°C for up to 12 h rather the microstruce showed the growth of abnormal grains. The grain growth behavior at different temperatures is discussed in terms of nonlinear growth rates with respect to the driving force. The sample sintered at 850°C for 12 h showed enhanced electrical properties with leakage current density of 4 × 10 A/cm at 1 kV/cm, remnant polarization 2Pr of 8 μC/cm at 20 kV/cm, and minimal dissipation factor (tan δ) of ~0.025 at 10 Hz. These values are comparable to the previously reported values obtained using unconventional sintering techniques such as spark plasma sintering and rapid liquid phase sintering.