A first-principles
study of the tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB)
K4Bi2Nb10O30 has suggested
that the Bi 6s lone pair causes in-plane polarization (within the a–b plane), corresponding to the
one found in Pb5Nb10O30 (PN), in
contrast to the out-of-plane polarization (along c) found in most TTBs. Replacing PN with KBN potentially opens for
a lead-free analogue to morphotropic phase boundaries known in TTBs
based on PN. Here, we report on the synthesis and properties of A4Bi2Nb10O30 (ABN, A = Na,
K, Rb) with the objective to determine the structure and electrical
properties, paying particular attention to the role of the Bi 6s lone
pair. The ABN materials were synthesized via conventional solid-state
synthesis in a two-step process. Convergent-beam electron diffraction
demonstrated a centrosymmetric tetragonal space group for the two
compounds KBN and RBN, and ferroelectric polarization–electric
field measurements confirmed the lack of hysteretic behavior in line
with the observed centrosymmetric symmetry. Non-ambient powder X-ray
diffraction demonstrated the signature of a phase transition for KBN
and RBN, as several weak satellite reflections vanished during heating
and reappeared upon cooling. Dielectric spectroscopy supported the
observation of an anomaly due to the presence of a weak maximum in
the electrical permittivity at temperatures corresponding to the disappearance
of the satellite reflections. Possible explanations for the absence
of polarization in ABN TTBs are discussed with particular attention
to the suppression of the 6s2 lone pair effect of Bi and
the size of A-site cations in the TTB crystal structure.
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