NEW LEAD-FREE PEROVSKITE RELAXOR CERAMICS DERIVED FROM BaTiO3 AND CONTAINING SCANDIUM
New lead-free compositions of AMO3 perovskite type were synthesized in the BaTi 1-x( Nb 1/2 Sc 1/2)x O 3(0 ≤ x ≤ 1) system, with regards to the comparable electronic configurations of the various 6-coordinated cations. Special solid state reaction was used. The effect of the replacement of titanium by scandium and niobium in the B-site on structural and dielectric properties was investigated. For this, we have used X-ray diffraction and dielectric characterizations. Dielectric measurements performed on ceramics with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.25 composition revealed that the small change in composition from BaTiO3 has a strong influence on the dielectric properties: fast decreasing of the ferroelectric transition temperature for low values of x and evolution from classical ferroelectric for 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.075 to relaxor behavior for 0.075 < x ≤ 0.25.