Commercial lead-based piezoelectric materials raised worldwide environmental concerns in the past decade. Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 TiO 3 -based solid solution is among the most promising lead-free piezoelectric candidates; however, depolarization of these solid solutions is a longstanding obstacle for their practical applications. Here we use a strategy to defer the thermal depolarization, even render depolarization-free Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 TiO 3 -based 0-3-type composites. This is achieved by introducing semiconducting ZnO particles into the relaxor ferroelectric 0.94Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 TiO 3 -0.06BaTiO 3 matrix. The depolarization temperature increases with increasing ZnO concentration until depolarization disappears at 30 mol% ZnO. The semiconducting nature of ZnO provides charges to partially compensate the ferroelectric depolarization field. These results not only pave the way for applications of Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 TiO 3 -based piezoceramics, but also have great impact on the understanding of the mechanism of depolarization so as to provide a new design to optimize the performance of lead-free piezoelectrics.

Triangular voltage waveform was employed to distinguish the contributions of dielectric permittivity, electric conductivity and domain switching in current-electric field curves. At the same time, it is shown how those contributions can affect the shape of the electric displacement — electric field loops (D–E loops). The effects of frequency, temperature and microstructure (point defects, grain size and texture) on the ferroelectric properties of several ferroelectric compositions is reported, including: BaTiO 3; lead zirconate titanate (PZT); lead-free Na 0.5 K 0.5 NbO 3; perovskite-like layer structured A 2 B 2 O 7 with super high Curie point (T c ); Aurivillius phase ferroelectric Bi 3.15 Nd 0.5 Ti 3 O 12; and multiferroic Bi 0.89 La 0.05 Tb 0.06 FeO 3. This systematic study provides an instructive outline in the measurement of ferroelectric properties and the analysis and interpretation of experimental data.

The perovskite‐like layer‐structured (PLS) Nd2Ti2O7 and La2Ti2O7 have possibly the highest Curie points of any materials. To pole these ceramics, highly textured, dense ceramics with high DC electrical resistivity are required. The ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of lead‐free Nd2Ti2O7 and La2Ti2O7 grain‐oriented ceramics prepared by spark plasma sintering using a two‐step method are reported. The Tc of Nd2Ti2O7 and La2Ti2O7 are 1482±5° and 1461±5°C, respectively. The measured piezoelectric constant of the textured La2Ti2O7 was d33=2.6 pC/N. These results now open up the possibility of studying the ferroelectric/piezoelectric properties of the PLS family of ceramics with super‐high Curie points.

In 0.95[0.94Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-0.06BaTiO3]-0.05CaTiO3 ceramics, the temperature TS (dielectric permittivity shoulder at about 125 °C) represents a transition between two different thermally activated dielectric relaxation processes. Below TS, the approximately linear decrease of the permittivity with the logarithm of frequency was attributed to the presence of a dominant ferroelectric phase. Above TS, the permittivity shows a more complicated dependence of the frequency and Raman modes indicate a sudden increase in the spatial disorder of the material, which is ascribed to the presence of a nonpolar phase and to a loss of interaction between polar regions. From 30 to 150 °C, an increase in the maximum polarization with increasing temperature was related to three possible mechanisms: polarization extension favoured by the simultaneous presence of polar and non-polar phases; the occurrence of electric field-induced transitions from weakly polar relaxor to ferroelectric polar phase; and the enhanced polarizability of the crystal structure induced by the weakening of the Bi-O bond with increasing temperature. The occurrence of different electric field induced polarization processes with increasing temperature is supported by the presence of additional current peaks in the current-electric field loops.

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