A-site Pr-doped BNT ceramics for absorption-dominated EMI shielding in X-band

Abstract

In this study, (Bi_0.5Na_0.5)_1−xPr_xTiO₃ (x = 0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05) ceramics were fabricated using the conventional solid-state method for their potential application in electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding within the X-band frequency range (8.2–12.4 GHz). The XRD reveals that the sample was a pure perovskite phase with a rhombohedral structure with R3c symmetry and the average crystallite size showed a decreasing trend with increasing Pr concentration up to x = 0.03 (96.50 to 67.64 nm) and then increased to 94.61 nm for x = 0.05. The FESEM micrograph confirms the grain growth without any impurity and the average grain size exhibited a decreasing trend with the rare-earth (Praseodymium) substitution in the range of 1.56–0.88 µm. Among the compositions evaluated, (Bi_0.5Na_0.5)_0.97Pr_0.03TiO₃ ceramics with a thickness of 1.4 mm exhibited the highest shielding effectiveness (SE) of 23 dB and the highest value of ε′ and μ′ was found to be 3.9 at 12.4 GHz and 9.22 at 8.2 GHz within the X-band. With a microwave absorption of above 99.9% and an absorption bandwidth of 4 GHz, the composition x = 0.03 demonstrated a minimum reflection loss of − 67.3 dB. The proposed Praseodymium-doped bismuth sodium titanate (Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃) ceramics are promising materials for use as radar-absorbing compounds in electromagnetic interference (EMI) attenuators. These materials are particularly suited for applications in weather monitoring, radar tracking, and air traffic management, as well as in gigahertz-frequency antennas and commercial uses like long-term magnetic storage media for information recording and archiving.