Lead-Free Perovskite (Fe1/2Ag1/2) TiO3 Nanoceramic: Synthesis and Characterization

Nanoceramic powder of (Fe1/2Ag1/2)TiO3 having the particle sizes of 16-47 nm was synthesized using a citrate gel method. Energy dispersive X-ray, transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy were used to ascertain the formation of (Fe1/2Ag1/2) TiO3 nanoceramic (FAT-nc). Heat of combustion, heat of dissociation of tartaric acid and combustion of organic present in the gel along with the evolution of gases during calcination created ambiance for reaction to occur more easily to form FAT-nc. UV-vis study exhibited the surface plasmon resonance at 322 nm. The ac conductivity is found to obey the universal power law. The FAT-nc powder was further pressed into disk and sintered at 800 °C for 3 h in air, and its microstructure, dielectric, impedance and magnetic properties were studies. Complex impedance analyses suggested the dielectric relaxation to be of non- Debye type. The pair approximation type correlated barrier hopping model is found to successfully explain the mechanism of charge transport in FAT-nc. Dielectric study revealed a low value of room temperature dielectric constant (= 171) and dielectric loss (= 0.49) at 1 kHz. Magnetic studies have been carried out using vibration sample magnetometer, which indicated the possibility of magnetoelectric coupling.