Synthesis, microstructure and dielectric properties of zirconium doped barium strontium titanate obtained by solvothermal method

(Ba_0.8Sr_0.2Zr_yTi_1?yO₃) (y = 0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2) nanosized powders is synthesized by solvothermal method. The formation of (Ba_0.8Sr_0.2Zr_yTi_1?yO₃) was confirmed by XRD, FT-IR and XPS analysis. The purity of the (Ba_0.8Sr_0.2Zr_yTi_1?yO₃) was examined using FT-IR spectroscopy. The X-ray analysis proves that all as-synthesized Ba_0.8Sr_0.2Zr_yTi_1?yO₃ powders have a cubic perovskite structure. The surface characterization indicates the powder contains Zr and Sr elements. SEM investigation shows that the average particle size is reduced with increasing the Zr content and the average particle size is in the range 37–50 nm, the well dispersed nano powders have narrow particle size distribution. The study of dielectric properties shows that the Curie peaks of dielectric constant become broader and shift towards lower temperature on the basis of Ba_0.8Sr_0.2TiO₃ and the dielectric loss decreases with increasing Zr content.