Preparation and characterization of nanostructured CaCu2.90Zn0.10Ti4O12 ceramic

Abstract

Nanostructure CaCu2.90Zn0.10Ti4O12 (CCZTO) electronic ceramic was synthesized by semi-wet route. The objective of this route is to enable the calcination and sintering processes to go for completion in shorter time and at lower temperature.The samples were characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM and EDX analyses. The crystallite size of the CCZTO ceramic, obtained by XRD using Debye Scherrer formula, range from 38-74nm which is in good agreement with the particle size observed by TEM analysis. It was observed clearly that the grain size significantly increased with an increase in sintering duration. Dielectric measurements were carried out by LCR meter in the temperature range, 300-500K, at few selected frequencies. It was also observed that the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of CCZTO are temperature independent in higher frequency whereas temperature dependent in low frequency region. The ceramics exhibit high dielectric constant of 1.35 × 104 at 1 kHz.