LAUSR

Abstract Lead-free antiferroelectric silver niobate AgNbO3 ceramics have attracted growing interest for their superior energy storage density. The ceramics are commonly prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction method using Ag2O and Nb2O5 as the raw materials. An O2 atmosphere is maintained to prevent the possible decomposition of Ag2O during sintering, which increases the complexity of the process. In this work, we prepared successfully the pure phase AgNbO3 ceramics in air with the hydrothermally synthesized AgNbO3 powders. In comparison with the ceramics prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction method, the ceramics prepared by the hydrothermally synthesized powders have a broader antiferroelectric phase region and show pinched polarization-electric field hysteresis loops at moderate electric fields.