Influence of A-site Mg2+ Incorporation on the Structural, Optical, Dielectric, and Ferroelectric Properties of BaZr0.1Ti 0.9O3 Perovskite Ceramics

Influence of A-site Mg2+ Incorporation on the Structural, Optical, Dielectric, and Ferroelectric Properties of BaZr0.1Ti 0.9O3 Perovskite Ceramics | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Influence of A-site Mg 2+ Incorporation on the Structural, Optical, Dielectric, and Ferroelectric Properties of BaZr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 Perovskite Ceramics Anitha G, Pavithra G, Geetha D, Giridharan N. V This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9381550/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Lead-free ferroelectric ceramics have emerged as critical alternatives to toxic lead-based systems for next-generation dielectric and energy storage applications. In this work, Ba 1−y Mg y Zr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 (y = 0.00, 0.05, 0.07, 0.10) ceramics were synthesised via citrate-nitrate auto-combustion and systematically investigated to understand the influence of A-site Mg 2+ substitution on structural, optical, dielectric, ferroelectric, and energy-storage properties. Rietveld refinement confirmed phase-pure tetragonal symmetry (P4mm) across all compositions, with progressive lattice contraction from 4.0266 Å to 3.9909 Å, while average crystallite size decreased from 21.71 nm (BZT) to 17.21 nm (BMZT0.10) as Mg content increased. HR-SEM revealed a monotonically decreasing grain size from 116.87 nm to 112.76 nm, confirming Mg 2+ as an effective grain growth inhibitor. A tuneable optical bandgap of 3.23–3.31 eV was established from UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra. Frequency-dependent dielectric measurements revealed Maxwell-Wagner dominated polarisation behaviour, with BMZT0.05 achieving the highest permittivity (5069.49) and lowest loss factor (0.019). P-E hysteresis analysis confirmed ferroelectric loops across 5–55 kV/cm at 10 and 100 Hz, with BMZT0.05 exhibiting the highest remanent polarisation. Notably, BMZT0.10 achieved an energy-storage efficiency of 85.6% at an ultralow field of 5 kV/cm, attributed to its slim hysteresis loop and enhanced polarisation reversibility. These results establish Mg-engineered BZT ceramics as promising lead-free candidates for low-voltage dielectric capacitors, ferroelectric memory, and microelectronic energy-storage applications. Lead-free ferroelectrics barium zirconate titanate A-site substitution dielectric permittivity energy storage efficiency Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9381550","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":633171441,"identity":"b7c38cac-dc4c-40a8-a330-68f247c53ec7","order_by":0,"name":"Anitha G","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Anna University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anitha","middleName":"","lastName":"G","suffix":""},{"id":633171442,"identity":"3b5f8aa7-145a-4078-8007-cc474e15f1af","order_by":1,"name":"Pavithra G","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Anna University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pavithra","middleName":"","lastName":"G","suffix":""},{"id":633171443,"identity":"31748474-2698-4307-a898-7ce19d22d040","order_by":2,"name":"Geetha D","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJACZgYGGwY2BsYGBh4DED+BoA7GZgaGNAY2NhK1HGYAWsPAwMNAhBZ59+bjjwtqzkfzyTe3PXhTYMfAz55jgFeL4Zljic0zjt3ObWNjbDecY5DMINnzhoCWGTmGzTxsYC1t0jwGzAwGNwjZMv/9x2aef+dgWuoZ7AlpkZfgYWzmbTsA03KYwUCCgBYDnjTD2bx9yUAtiW2ScwyO80iceVaA35b2ww8+83yzy53ffPyZxJs/1XL87ckb8NtyAE2AB69ysC0NBJWMglEwCkbBiAcArahCj2Ikj50AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Anna University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Geetha","middleName":"","lastName":"D","suffix":""},{"id":633171446,"identity":"2117e7db-de2a-4bb4-b3f4-b575598ff348","order_by":3,"name":"Giridharan N. 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In this work, Ba\u003csub\u003e1\u0026minus;y\u003c/sub\u003eMg\u003csub\u003ey\u003c/sub\u003eZr\u003csub\u003e0.1\u003c/sub\u003eTi\u003csub\u003e0.9\u003c/sub\u003eO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e (y\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00, 0.05, 0.07, 0.10) ceramics were synthesised via citrate-nitrate auto-combustion and systematically investigated to understand the influence of A-site Mg\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e substitution on structural, optical, dielectric, ferroelectric, and energy-storage properties. Rietveld refinement confirmed phase-pure tetragonal symmetry (P4mm) across all compositions, with progressive lattice contraction from 4.0266 \u0026Aring; to 3.9909 \u0026Aring;, while average crystallite size decreased from 21.71 nm (BZT) to 17.21 nm (BMZT0.10) as Mg content increased. HR-SEM revealed a monotonically decreasing grain size from 116.87 nm to 112.76 nm, confirming Mg\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e as an effective grain growth inhibitor. A tuneable optical bandgap of 3.23\u0026ndash;3.31 eV was established from UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra. Frequency-dependent dielectric measurements revealed Maxwell-Wagner dominated polarisation behaviour, with BMZT0.05 achieving the highest permittivity (5069.49) and lowest loss factor (0.019). P-E hysteresis analysis confirmed ferroelectric loops across 5\u0026ndash;55 kV/cm at 10 and 100 Hz, with BMZT0.05 exhibiting the highest remanent polarisation. Notably, BMZT0.10 achieved an energy-storage efficiency of 85.6% at an ultralow field of 5 kV/cm, attributed to its slim hysteresis loop and enhanced polarisation reversibility. These results establish Mg-engineered BZT ceramics as promising lead-free candidates for low-voltage dielectric capacitors, ferroelectric memory, and microelectronic energy-storage applications.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Influence of A-site Mg2+ Incorporation on the Structural, Optical, Dielectric, and Ferroelectric Properties of BaZr0.1Ti 0.9O3 Perovskite Ceramics","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-05-05 08:42:18","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9381550/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"f2f62682-d1c1-472b-8eb9-3cac0c3d4234","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 5th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-05-17T12:24:10+00:00","index":13,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"223838193256959194430015805742895961551","date":"2026-04-29T19:30:57+00:00","index":11,"fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-05T08:42:18+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-05-05 08:42:18","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9381550","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9381550","identity":"rs-9381550","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}