Effects of Ta2O5 addition on relaxation behavior and electric properties of PMS–PNN–PZT ceramics

Pb(Mn1/3Sb2/3)0.01(Ni1/3Nb2/3)0.495(Zr0.3Ti0.7)0.495O3+x wt% Ta2O5 (PMS–PNN–PZT, x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) lead piezoelectric ceramics were prepared by a traditional two-step solid-state reaction method. The effect of Ta2O5 content on the phase structure, microstructure, electrical properties and dielectric relaxation of PMS–PNN–PZT ceramics was investigated. The XRD patterns show that all ceramics have pure perovskite structure. Ta2O5 doping can promote the grain growth and improve electrical properties. And the ceramics have high relaxation behavior. When x = 0.4, it exhibits optimum electrical performance: d33 = 805 pC/N, kp = 66%, er = 6838, tanδ = 1.4%, Tc = 118.5 °C, γ = 1.9618, Ec = 3.652 kV/cm, Pr = 21.91 µC/cm2. This indicates that Ta2O5 can be used as an effective dopant in PMS–PNN–PZT ceramics and the ceramics can be used as the main material for multilayer ceramic capacitors and electro-strictive actuators.