Abstract
This article presents the piezoelectric and mechanical properties of bismuth layer-structured ferroelectrics (BLSF)-based BaBi4Ti4O15 ceramics incorporating Ba4Ti13O30. The ceramic compositions, (1-x)BaBi4Ti4O15–xBa4Ti13O30 with x=0–100 vol%, are obtained through solid-state reaction processes. The dielectric constant, ε33T/ε0, decreases exponentially from 220 to 97 with increasing x from 0 to 66 vol%. The electromechanical coupling factor, k33, decreases from 15 to 7% with increasing x from 0 to 66 vol%. The fracture toughness, KIC, and flexural strength, σ, of the compositions with x≥39 vol% are almost identical to those of Ba4Ti13O30. At x≥39 vol%, KIC and σ are nearly 15 and 30% larger than those of BaBi4Ti4O15, respectively. Ba4Ti13O30 particles dispersed uniformly in the ceramics are capable of carrying an applied load effectively and lead to further improvements of the mechanical properties.