Mechanochemical Activation and Spark Plasma Sintering of the Lead-Free Ba(Fe(1/2)Nb(1/2))O(3) Ceramics

This paper investigates the impact of the technological process (Mechanochemical Activation (MA) of the powder in combination with the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) method) on the final properties of lead-free Ba(Fe(1/2)Nb(1/2))O(3) (BFN) ceramic materials. The BFN powders were obtained for different MA duration times (x from 10 to 100 h). The mechanically activated BFN powders were used in the technological process of the BFN ceramics by the SPS method. The measurements of the BFN(x)MA ceramic samples included the following analysis: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS), DC electrical conductivity, and dielectric properties. X-ray diffractions (XRD) tests showed the appearance of the perovskite phase of BFN powders after 10 h of milling time. The longer milling time (up 20 h) causes the amount of the perovskite phase to gradually increase, and the diffraction peaks are more clearly visible. Short high energy milling times favor a large heterogeneity of the grain shape and size. Increasing the MA milling time to 40 h significantly improves the microstructure of BFN ceramics sintered in the SPS technology. The microstructure becomes fine-grained with clearly visible grain boundaries and higher grain size uniformity. Temperature measurements of the BFN ceramics show a number of interesting dielectric properties, i.e., high values of electric permittivity, relaxation properties with a diffusion phase transition, as well as negative values of dielectric properties occurring at high temperatures. The high electric permittivity values predestines the BFN(x)MA materials for energy storage applications e.g., high energy density batteries, while the negative values of dielectric properties can be used for shield elements against the electromagnetic radiation.