Ferroelectric, Dielectric and Electromechanical Performance of Ba0.92Ca0.08Ti0.95Zr0.05O3 Ceramics with an Enhanced Curie Temperature.

Ba0.92Ca0.08Ti0.95Zr0.05O3 (BCZT8-5) ceramic materials have been scarcely studied as lead-free piezo/ferroelectrics despite their enhanced Curie temperature (>100 °C) with respect to most studied BCZT compositions. In this work, homogeneous dense BCZT8-5 ceramics with grain size in the range of 20 µm, and optimum ferroelectric, dielectric, and electromechanical performance, were prepared by the mixed oxides route using moderate synthesis (1250 °C-2 h) and sintering (1400 °C-2 h) conditions. Thickness-poled thin disks and monomodal shear plate resonators were used for the determination of piezoelectric coefficients, coupling factors, elastic, and dielectric permittivity coefficients, including all losses, by iterative analysis of impedance curves at resonance. Furthermore, the thermal evolution of the piezoelectric characteristics at resonance was determined to assess the enhanced working range of the ceramics (≈100 °C). Ferroelectric hysteresis loops and strains vs. electric-field butterfly loops were also measured and showed soft behavior with Ec = 2 kV/cm, Pr = 12 µC/cm2 after a maximum applied field of 3 kV was used. The ceramics showed a high endurance of P-E cycles to electrical fatigue up to 107 cycles. Moreover, dielectric properties as a function of temperature were also accomplished and showed nearly normal ferroelectric behavior, characteristic of samples with low crystallographic disorder. Overall, these ceramics showed high sensitivity and higher stability than other currently studied BCZT compositions.

DC bias electric field effects on ac electrical conductivity of MAPbI3suggesting intrinsic changes on structure and charge carrier dynamics.

Methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) emerges as a promising halide perovskite material for the next generation of solar cells due to its high efficiency and flexibility in material growth. Despite intensive studies of their optical and electronic properties in the past ten years, there are no reports on dc bias electric field effects on conductivity in a wide temperature range. In this work, we report the combined effects of frequency, temperature, and dc bias electric field on the ac conductivity of MAPbI3. We found that the results of dc bias electric fields are very contrasting in the tetragonal and cubic phases. In the tetragonal phase, sufficiently high dc bias electric fields induce a conductivity peak appearance ∼290 K well evidenced at frequencies higher than 100 kHz. Excluding possible degradation and extrinsic factors, we propose that this peak suggests a ferroelectric-like transition. In the absence of a dc bias electric field, the ac conductivity in the tetragonal phase increases with temperature while decreases with temperature in the cubic phase. Also, ac activation energies for tetragonal and cubic phases were found to be inversely and directly proportional to the dc bias electric field, respectively. This behavior was attributed to the ionic conduction, possibly of MA+and I-ions, for the tetragonal phase. As for the cubic phase, the ac conduction dynamics appear to be metallic-like, which seems to change to a polaronic-controlled charge transport to increased dc bias electric fields.

Ferroelectret-based Hydrophone Employed in Oil Identification-A Machine Learning Approach.

This work focuses on acoustic analysis as a way of discriminating mineral oil, providing a robust technique, immune to electromagnetic noise, and in some cases, depending on the applied sensor, a low-cost technique. Thus, we propose a new method for the diagnosis of the quality of mineral oil used in electrical transformers, integrating a ferroelectric-based hydrophone and an acoustic transducer. Our classification solution is based on a supervised machine learning technique applied to the signals generated by an in-home built hydrophone. A total of three statistical datasets entries were collected during the acoustic experiments on four types of oils. The first, the second, and third datasets contain 180, 240, and 420 entries, respectively. Eighty-four features were considered from each dataset to apply to two classification approaches. The first classification approach is able to distinguish the oils from the four possible classes with a classification error less than 2%, while the second approach is able to successfully classify the oils without errors (e.g., with a score of 100%).

Selection and Optimization of a K0.5Na0.5NbO3-Based Material for Environmentally-Friendly Magnetoelectric Composites.

Li- and Ta-modified K 0.5 Na 0.5 NbO 3 compounds are among the most promising lead-free ferroelectrics for high-sensitivity piezoelectric ceramic materials, and are potentially capable of replacing Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 . They are also being investigated as piezoelectric components in environmentally friendly magnetoelectric composites. However, most suitable modifications for this application have not been identified. We report here a simulation study of how the magnetoelectric voltage responses of layered composite structures based on Li x (K 0.5 Na 0.5 ) 1 - x Nb 1 - y Ta y O 3 varies with the chemical composition of the piezoelectric. Instead of relying on material coefficients from the literature, which would have required using different sources, an ad hoc set of materials was prepared. This demanded tailoring preparation by conventional means to obtain dense ceramics while controlling alkali volatilization, perovskite phase and microstructure, as well as characterizing their dielectric, elastic and electromechanical properties. This provided the set of relevant material coefficients as a function of composition, which was used to obtain the magnetoelectric responses of model layered structures including a reference magnetostrictive spinel oxide by simulation. The piezoelectric material leading to the highest magnetoelectric coefficient was identified, and shown to be different to that showing the highest piezoelectric coefficient. This reflects the dependence of the magnetoelectric response on all material coefficients, along with the complex interplay between composition, processing and properties in K 0.5 Na 0.5 NbO 3 -based ceramics.

Atomic pair distribution function at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory: application to the Pb1-xLaxZr0.40Ti0.60O3 ferroelectric system.

This work reports the setting up of the X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy beamline at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory for performing total scattering experiments to be analyzed by atomic pair distribution function (PDF) studies. The results of a PDF refinement for Al2O3 standard are presented and compared with data acquired at a beamline of the Advanced Photon Source, where it is common to perform this type of experiment. A preliminary characterization of the Pb1-xLaxZr0.40Ti0.60O3 ferroelectric system, with x = 0.11, 0.12 and 0.15, is also shown.

Síntesis de óxioos tipo perovskita mediante polimerización con ácido cítrico y propiónico / Syntheis of peroovkite type oxides by polymerization with citric and propionic acid / Pervskitas tipo óxido síntese por polimerização com ácido cítrico e proiiónico

En este trabajo se describe la preparación de la perovskita La0,75Sr0,25Co0,5Fe0,5O3 (LaSrCoFeO), empleando una ruta de química húmeda, mediante la polimerización con ácido cítrico y propiónico, con el propósito de obtener materiales para potenciales aplicaciones como membranas de purificación de oxígeno y como materiales electródicos en celdas de combustible de óxido sólido (SOFC). Para ello, los sólidos se caracterizaron mediante difracción de rayos X (DRX) y microscopia electrónica de barrido (SEM), con lo que se obtuvo información sobre la formación y pureza de fases, la morfología, la estructura y las propiedades superficiales de cada sistema, indicando que es posible obtener sólidos con una distribución de grano homogéneo, textura y relieve característicos, en cuyo contexto el método que involucra la polimerización con ácido cítrico mostró los mejores resultados. La composición global se determinó mediante microanálisis de rayos X de energía dispersiva (EDX), y se señaló una buena concordancia entre las composiciones propuestas y obtenidas. La caracterización realizada sugiere la presencia de pequeñas cantidades de carbono y algunos óxidos de lantano, estroncio y cobalto como principales contaminantes, específicamente en la muestra obtenida mediante la polimerización con ácido propiónico.

This paper describes the preparation of La0,75Sr0,25Co0,5Fe0,5O3 (LaSrCoFeO) perovskite, using a wet chemical route, through polymerization with citric acid and propionic acid, to obtain materials for potential applications as membranes purification materials and oxygen electrodes in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC). The solids were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), obtaining information on the formation and purity of phases, morphology, structure and surface properties of each system. This indicates that it is possible to obtain solids with a homogeneous distribution of grain, texture and relief features. In this context the method involving the polymerization with citric acid showed the best results. The overall composition was determined by X-ray microanalysis of energy dispersive (EDX), indicating a good correlation between the compositions obtained and the proposed. The characterization performed suggests the presence of small amounts of carbon and some oxides of lanthanum, strontium and cobalt as major pollutants, specifically in the sample obtained by polymerization withpropionic.

Este trabalho descreve a preparação do Perovskitas La0,75Sr0,25Co0,5Fe0,5O3 (LaSrCoFeO), utilizando uma via húmida química, através da polimerização do ácido cítrico e ácido propiônico, a obtenção de materiais para aplicações potenciais como membranas purificação materiais e eletrodos de oxigênio em células combustíveis Óxido Sólido (SOFC), pois o sólidos foram caracterizados por difração de raios X (XRD) ea microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV), obtendo informações sobre a formação ea pureza dos fases, morfologia, estrutura e propriedades superficiais de cada sistema, indicando que é possível obter sólidos com uma distribuição homogénea de grão, textura e relevo características, em cujo contexto, o método que envolve a polimerização com ácido cítrico apresentaram os melhores resultados. No seu conjunto, a composição foi determinada por microanálise de raios-X de energia dispersiva (EDX), indicando uma boa correlação entre as composições obtidas e propostas. A caracterização realizada, sugerem a presença de pequenas quantidades de carbono e alguns óxidos de lantânio, estrôncio e cobalto como principais poluentes, especialmente na amostra obtida por polimerização com ácido propiônico.