Jaiban et al. Nanoscale Research Letters 2012, 7:45 http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/7/1/45 phase transition, properties. microstructure, and dielectric Conclusions In this research, BNZT ceramics with Zr/Ti ratios of 0.7:0.3, 0.6:0.4, 0.5:0.5, and 0.4:0.6 were successfully fab- ricated using a conventional solid-state sintering method. XRD analysis revealed a complete solubility of Ti4+ ions into the B-site of Zr4+ ions for all composi- tions investigated. Consequently, smaller ions of Ti4+ replacing the host site of Zr4+ ions caused the typical cell volume of BNZ to decrease and produced transfor- mation of an orthorhombic to a rhombohedral lattice above Zr/Ti ratios of 0.6:0.4. As a result, the dielectric constant was enhanced with increasing Ti concentration. Besides, among the BNZT samples possessing a rhom- bohedral structure, a decrease of average grain size also partly contributed to an increase in the relative permit- tivity value. In the case of the dissipation factor, the result showed a similar trend to that of the dielectric constant. Acknowledgements This work is financially supported by the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) and the National Research University Project under Thailand’s Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC). The Faculty of Science and the Graduate School of Chiang Mai University is also acknowledged. P. Jaiban would like to acknowledge the financial support from the TRF through the Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Program. Author details 1Department of Physics and Materials Science, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand 2Materials Science Research Center, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand Authors’ contributions PJ carried out the BNZT ceramic experiments, analysis, and writing of the manuscript. AR carried out the crystal structure investigation of the specimens. 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Mater Design 2010, 31:4403-4407. doi:10.1186/1556-276X-7-45 Cite this article as: Jaiban et al.: Influences of phase transition and microstructure on dielectric properties of Bi0.5Na0.5Zr1-xTixO3 ceramics. Nanoscale Research Letters 2012 7:45. Submit your manuscript to a journal and beneﬁt from: 7 Convenient online submission 7 Rigorous peer review 7 Immediate publication on acceptance 7 Open access: articles freely available online 7 High visibility within the ﬁeld 7 Retaining the copyright to your article Submit your next manuscript at 7 springeropen.com