Fabrication process and electrical properties of BaTiO3/Ni nanocomposites

A new capacitor based on tetragonal BaTiO3/Ni micro- and nanocomposites, was made from BaTiO3 and NiO. The NiO powders were reduced to micro- and nano-sized metal particulates during early stages of sintering, and the mixtures were pressureless-sintered in flowing argon gas atmosphere. TEM observation revealed that the nano-sized Ni particulates were homogeneously dispersed within matrix grains. The fracture toughness was improved 2.5 times by the Ni dispersion. The dielectric constant was also improved extremely by these Ni dispersion. (C) 1997 Acta Metallurgica Inc.