A microstructure based on plate-like grains is expected in the obtaining of Bi4Ti3O12 ferroelectric ceramics, promoted by the Aurivillius crystalline structure that this material exhibit. This grain morphology would lead to conductivity making the functional response unpractical. In this frame, we address the control of the crystal growth which leads to this grain morphology by combining the effect of a simple thin film obtaining procedure with doping strategies. On the one hand, an aqueous solution-gel plus spin-coating methodology is performed here for the obtaining of these thin films. On the other hand, a simultaneous incorporation of Nd3+ and Nb5+ in the crystal lattice replacing Bi3+ and Ti4+, respectively, is conducted in this contribution. The results obtained by X-ray diffraction, UV–visible measurements and FESEM confirm that the incorporated dopants are able to block (or at least control) the mentioned crystal growth. © 2024 The Author(s)

P. Martin gratefully acknowledges to ANID/Doctorado Becas Chile/2019-72200338. JMC is also grateful to the funding of project RTI2018-097885-B-C31 by the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) of Spain.

Peer reviewed