Effects of different precursors on the aging and electrocaloric properties of Mn-doped Ba0.95Sr0.05TiO3 ceramics

Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-11297-7

In this study, the effects of different types of Mn precursors (MnO2 and Mn2O3) and sintering temperature on the defect dipole formation, ferroelectric aging and electrical properties were investigated by using Ba0.95Sr0.05TiO3 ceramics as the base. Both Mn precursors were substituted to the Ti-site as 1 mol% and two different sintering temperatures of 1325 and 1400 °C were used to study the effect of grain size. We deduced that slightly higher amounts of Mn2+ can be incorporated into the perovskite structure when MnO2 is used as the precursor, by using X-ray diffraction and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Mn-doped samples sintered at 1325 °C age faster than those sintered at 1400 °C. Aging caused a decrease in the electrocaloric effect whereas Mn-doping increased it. This study shows that Mn precursor used for the acceptor doping affects the amount of Mn incorporated into the structure and therefore electrical properties of the resulting ceramics.