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Reducing Dielectric Loss in CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ Ceramics by Spark Plasma Sintering-Enabled Control of Grain-Boundary Potential Barriers

Zhisong Zhou, Jingdong Chen, Xiaogang Wang, Bo He, Qing Ma, Wenyan Wang

Journal of Ceramic Science and Technology · Early View (advance online publication) (-1), pp. 1-12

DOI: 10.4416/JCST2026-00003

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Abstract

CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) ceramics exhibit a giant dielectric constant but often suffer from high dielectric loss that limits their practical use. In this work, Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) was employed as a rapid, interface-aware densification route to regulate the microstructure and electrical response of CCTO without chemical doping. Dense ceramics were fabricated at 1 000 °C under 50 MPa with holding times of 5 – 30 min and compared with a conventionally sintered reference prepared at 1 100 °C for 12 h. The SPS samples showed finer and more homogeneous grains, reduced secondary-phase signatures, much lower dielectric loss, and a markedly stronger grain-boundary resistive response. The SPS-10 sample delivered ε′ ≈ 2.9 × 104 and tan δ = 0.022 at 1 kHz at room temperature. Impedance and nonlinear J-E analyses indicate that the superior dielectric behavior is consistent with more effective grain-boundary barriers in the SPS ceramics. Fracture-surface XPS is interpreted here only as supportive near-surface chemical information, rather than as direct proof of grain-boundary-specific defect chemistry. These results show that SPS can substantially suppress dielectric loss in CCTO by coordinating densification, microstructural refinement, and interfacial electrical response.

Keywords

Internal barrier layer capacitor, grain-boundary engineering, Schottky barrier, impedance spectroscopy, nonlinear current-voltage behavior

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