Effect of Sintering Temperature on Microstructure and Densification of La and Ta Doped BiFeO3
Takian Fakhrul1, Ahmed Sharif2
1Takian Fakhrul, Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh, India.
2Dr. Ahmed Sharif, Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh, India.
Manuscript received on February 06, 2013. | Revised Manuscript received on February 11, 2013. | Manuscript published on February 15, 2013. | PP: 13-19 | Volume-2 Issue-3, February 2014. | Retrieval Number: C0593022314/2014©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: The role of codoping by La & Ta and sintering conditions on the densification, phase and microstructure of BiFeO3 (BFO) ceramic have been investigated in this study. Single phase Bi0.8La0.2Fe1-xTaxO3 (BLFTO) ceramics with x = 0.0, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05 were synthesized by the conventional solid-state reaction method. The BLFTO dried pellets were calcined at 800oC for 2 h and sintered at temperatures in the range of 875-975oC for 4h. Percent theoretical density (%TD) as high as 96.8% was attained in this research. Phase analysis by X–ray diffraction (XRD) indicated that a possible structural transition from rhombohedral to tetragonal occurred in the BLFTO ceramics. Moreover, microstructural investigation using the field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) showed that an increase in Ta5+ doping content to 0.05 mole fraction reduces the grain size from 6 µm in Bi0.8La0.2FeO3 to 0.8 µm in Bi0.8La0.2Fe0.95Ta0.05O3 when sintered at 975oC for 4h.
Keywords: Bismuth Ferrite, Sintering, Densification, Microstructure, Doping.