Work

Robocasting of Ba0.75Sr0.25TiO3 (BST25): Ferroelectric and pyroelectric properties benchmarking against solid-state processed ceramics

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Pyroelectric detectors are traditionally fabricated from dense ferroelectric crystals or ceramics produced through energy-intensive processing routes that offer limited control over the materials architecture and dielectric response. Since the pyroelectric figure of merit increases with the pyroelectric coefficient and decreases with the dielectric permittivity, reducing the dielectric constant while preserving the pyroelectric response offers an effective strategy for improving detector performance. Robocasting, a ceramic-focused implementation of Direct Ink Writing (DIW), enables the fabrication of architected ferroelectric ceramics with controlled microstructure and porosity, providing new opportunities to tailor their functional properties. Here, Ba 0.75 Sr 0.25 TiO 3 (BST25) ceramics produced by robocasting are systematically benchmarked against conventionally processed solid-state (SS) ceramics to establish processing-structure-property relationships governing their ferroelectric and pyroelectric behaviour. Despite their intentionally introduced macroporosity, robocast BST25 samples sintered at 1400 °C exhibited enhanced pyroelectric response compared with dense solid-state processed counterparts. Impedance spectroscopy revealed that this behaviour originates from increased grain-boundary resistance, which suppresses ferroelectric domain screening, while the architected macroporosity lowers the effective dielectric permittivity, further enhancing the pyroelectric response. These findings demonstrate that DIW is not merely a fabrication technique for geometric design, but a powerful route for engineering the architecture, microstructure, and electrical transport properties of BST25 ceramics, providing a promising route towards high-sensitivity, cost-effective pyroelectric detectors for laser energy and power monitoring and other advanced scientific applications.

Source: Ceramics International

DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2026.09.430