Characterization of thick bismuth ferrite-lead titanate films processed by tape casting and templated grain growth

The templated grain growth technique was used to synthesise textured 60BiFeO3–40PbTiO3 (60:40BFPT). Both Aurivillius (Bi4Ti3O12, PbBi4Ti4O15) and perovskite templates (BaTiO3, SrTiO3) were used to prepare 60:40BFPT. Only BaTiO3 templates were found to successful impart a texture to the ceramic matrix. In the case of perovskite templates, ferroelectricity was evident from saturated polarisation hysteresis loops. Saturated polarisation loops were achieved due to the substitution of Ba2+ or Sr2+, which reduces the coercive field. SrTiO3 and BaTiO3 templated ceramics showed remanent polarisation of 30 and 36 μC/cm2, respectively. Aurivillius templates did not generate ferroelectric materials. Because of their high chemical stability in this system, BaTiO3 templates appear to be the best candidate for fabricating textured BFPT by the reactive templated grain growth method.