Examination of the Influence of Cobalt Substitution on the Properties of Barium Titanate Ceramics

Cobalt (Co) doped Barium titanate (BaTiO3) powders, with Co concentration (0,5 and 10 mol%), are synthesized by the sol-gel technique and characterized by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the obtained powders, calcined at a relatively low temperature (1000 °C/3 h), found their crystallization in the pure perovskite structure without the appearance of secondary phases. XRD results reveal that the Co decreases the lattice parameters, the volume of the unit cell and the crystallite size of BaTiO3. The investigations carried out by FT-IR spectroscopy allow the investigation of the substitution procedure behavior associated to the Co incorporation into BaTiO3 lattice. The evolution of the physical parameters as functions of the dopant content have been examined based on XRD and FT-IR results. Furthermore, the morphology and the shape variation of particle size were studied through SEM.