CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE SCOPE OF

THE RESEARCH
 Chapter 5

CHAPTER-5

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE SCOPE

In the present thesis two different ceramic compositions namely (i) Cr-doped lead
lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT), and (ii) Cd doped barium zirconate titanate
ceramics have been investigated for their crystallographic, microstructure and
electrical properties and the major focus is towards the characterization of these
ceramic compositions for detector and energy harvesting device applications.

5.1 Major conclusions drawn on Cr-doped PLZT ceramics

The major conclusions drawn on Cr-doped PLZT ceramics are as follows

1. Cr-doped lead lanthanum zirconate pyroelectric titanate (PLZT) ceramic

compositions (Pb0.94La0.06)(Zr0.57Ti0.43)O3 + X mol% of Cr2O3, where X = 0.00,
0.05, 0.11 and 0.16 have been synthesized by mixed oxide solid state reaction
method.

2. Cr-doped PLZT compositions with different Cr content confirm single phase

formation with tetragonal crystal structure. The Rietveld refinement of the XRD
pattern of each composition gives the atomic positions of various atoms, their
occupancy as well as lattice parameters for each sample. A smaller value of 2 ~1,
represents the goodness of the refinement. The tetragonality ratio c/a increases
with increasing Cr content in the system. The specific heat capacity cp is high for a
dopant concentration of X = 0.11, whereas cv is observed to be high for a dopant
concentration of X = 0.05 mol% of Cr2O3.

3. The observed Raman modes have been de-convoluted using Lorentzian peak
profile fit, and are seen to correspond to tetragonal phase with few related to the
rhombohedral phase indicating the polymorphic phase in the system. The
fluorescence effect is observed in the Raman spectra at higher frequencies in all
the compositions.

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4. The P-E hysteresis loop measurements reveal a high coercive field for X = 0.05
which decreases with higher Cr content. The remnant polarization Pr shows
marginal increase. Small asymmetry observed in the P-E hysteresis loops is due to
the presence of internal bias. The ratio of maximum Pr to Ps is ~0.79 is close to
the theoretically calculated value 0.83 as reported in the literature.

5. The studies on the pyroelectric properties, the pyroelectric coefficient p, and the
estimated figures of merit (FoM) for current responsivity Fi, voltage responsivity
Fv, detectivity Fd and energy harvesting Fe and Fe*are fount to maximum for the
PLZT composition doped with X = 0.11 mol% of Cr2O3. The depolarization
temperature TD has been estimated from temperature dependence of the
pyroelectric coefficient, and is observed to decrease slightly with Cr content in the
system.

5.2 Major conclusions on Cd-doped BZT ceramics

The major conclusions on Cd-doped BZT ceramics are summarized below:

1. Ba1-xCdxZr0.13Ti0.87O3 ceramic compositions with x = 0 to 0.06 were prepared by

using powders developed separately including (i) manual mixing of powders and
(ii) high energy ball milling.

2. BCDZT ceramics prepared by powders obtained conventional mixing using agate

mortar and pestle exhibited tetragonal phase and are ferroelectric at room
temperature. A high piezoelectric charge constant (d33 ~114 pC/N), remnant
polarization and unipolar strain are observed for a Cd content of 6 at.%, and the
strain constant is largest for x = 0.04. The ferroelectric to paraelectric phase
transition is found to deviate from Curie – Weiss behavior. The minimal
hysteresis in the electro strain characteristics is found to be attractive to
piezoelectric device applications.

3. Properties of BCDZT ceramics prepared from high energy ball milled powders are
found to be superior to those made from manually mixed powders. A polymorphic
structure exhibiting the coexistence of rhombohedral, orthorhombic and tetragonal
phases is evidenced through X-ray diffraction and Raman studies. Incorporation

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of Cd in BZT near the pinched transition region shows a strong pyroelectric

response with enhanced pyroelectric coefficient p, and high figures of merit Fv, Fi,
and Fd, Fe and Fe*.The pyroelectric FoMs of BCDZT ceramic composition are
high compared to the existing ceramic pyroelectric material compositions, and
would find potential applications for IR sensing, thermal imaging and energy
harvesting applications

5.3 Future Scope for further research

The developed compositions of Cr-doped PLZT and Cd-doped BZT ceramics exhibit
high pyroelectric figures of merit in comparison to the existing ceramic compositions
used for pyroelectric detectors (for example PZT). The transition temperature of Cr-
doped PLZT ceramics is ~ 230 oC which make these compositions suitable for high
temperature pyroelectric detector applications.

On the other hand the Cd-doped BZT compositions performed much superior
pyroelectric properties in comparison to the Cr-doped PLZT and all the other existing
materials reported in the literature. The Cd-doped BZT compositions can be taken up
for the development of pyroelectric detector elements for IR sensing, thermal imaging
and energy harvesting applications.

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