Electrical properties of palladium-doped CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics

Abstract

The effect of doping palladium (Pd) at the Cu site of CaCu3Ti4O12 powders (CCPTO) synthesized by sol–gel technique on electrical properties was studied. XRD analysis revealed the formation of CCTO and CCPTO ceramics with some minor quantities of impurities. SEM micrographs revealed that the grain size decreased with Pd doping. TEM micrographs of CCPTO powder showed the formation of irregular-shaped particles of ~40 nm. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss showed a significant enhancement with Pd doping. A significant decrease in grain-boundary resistance with Pd doping was ascertained by impedance spectroscopy study. © 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.