From small compositional changes to large distortions - a new relaxor energy-storage material from BaTiO3 complexed with Bi2(Nb2/3Zn1/3)2O7

[BiZn2/3NbO3]x-[BaTiO3]1-x for x up to roughly 0.2, known as BZN-BT is a complex made from one of the most studied materials in the world, BaTiO3 (BT), doped with Bismuth Zinc Niobate (BZN) pyrochlore. Intriguingly, the addition of only 4% of BZN to BT completely changes both its crystal structure and its physical properties. Our initial experiments with x-ray diffraction in the home lab indicate the BZN doping transforms the BT to a structure it doesn't normally achieve until 250K. Then that further doping up to 0.1 produces a phase that looks as though it is the most symmetrical possible (cubic) but still possessing physical properties such as piezoelectricity, which is contradictory. Finally, the behaviour with decreasing temperature is altered from that of BT itself so that we have a new sequence of phase transitions and properties to investigate from a structural point of view.