Giant Polarization and High Temperature Monoclinic Phase in a Lead-Free Perovskite of Bi(Zn0.5Ti0.5)O3-BiFeO3

Lead-free piezoelectrics have attracted increasing attention because of the awareness of lead toxicity to the environment. Here, a new bismuth-based lead-free perovskite, (1 – x )Bi(Zn 0.5 Ti 0.5 )O 3 - x BiFeO 3, has been synthesized via a high-pressure and high-temperature method. It exhibits interesting properties of giant polarization, morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), and monoclinic phase. In particular, large tetragonality ( c / a = 1.228) and giant spontaneous polarization of 110 μC/cm 2 has been obtained in 0.6 Bi(Zn 0.5 Ti 0.5 )O 3 -0.4BiFeO 3, which is much higher than most available lead-free materials and conventional Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 . MPB is clearly identified to be constituted of tetragonal and monoclinic phases at x = 0.5. Notably, a single monoclinic phase has been observed at x = 0.6, which exhibits an intriguing high-temperature property. The present results are helpful to explore new lead-free MPB systems in bismuth-based compounds.