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This article studies the microstructure and piezoelectric properties of low sintering temperature lead-free ceramics $0.52({\mathrm{\text{Ba}}}_{0.7}{\mathrm{\text{Ca}}}_{0.3}){\mathrm{\text{TiO}}}_3-0.48\mathrm{\text{Ba}}({\mathrm{\text{Zr}}}_{0.2}{\mathrm{\text{Ti}}}_{0.8}){\mathrm{\text{O}}}_3$-doped with ZnO nanoparticles (noted as 0.48BZT-y, y is content of ZnO in wt%, y =0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 and 0.25). The obtained results of Raman scattering and dielectric measurements have confirmed that ${\mathrm{\text{Zn}}}^{2+}$ has occupied B site, to cause a deformation in the ABO₃-type lattice of the 0.48BZT-y compounds. The 0.15 wt% ZnO-doped ceramic sintered at 1350${}^{\circ }$C exhibited excellent piezoelectric parameters: $d_{33}=420\mathrm{\text{pC/N}}$, $d_{31}=-174\mathrm{\text{pC/N}}$, $k_p=0.483$, $k_t=0.423$ and $k_{33}=0.571$. The obtained results indicate that the high-quality lead-free BZT–BCT ceramic could be successfully synthesized at a low sintering temperature of 1350${}^{\circ }$C by doping an appropriated amount of ZnO.

This work reports the influence of sintering temperature on structure, microstructure and piezoelectric properties of 0.48 Ba(Zr${}_{0.2}$Ti${}_{0.8}$)O₃–0.52 (Ba${}_{0.7}$Ca${}_{0.3}$)TiO₃(BZT–BCT) doped with ZnO nanoparticle ceramics manufactured by a conventional solid state reaction method. By increasing sintering temperature, the piezoelectric behaviors were improved and rose up to the best parameters at a sintering temperature of 1450${}^{\circ }$C ($d_{33}=576$ pC/N and $k_p=0.55$). The corresponding properties of undoped BZT–BCT ceramics were investigated as a comparison. The received results show that the sintering behavior and piezo-parameters of doped BZT–BCT samples are better than the undoped BZT–BCT samples at each sintering temperature.