Solution combustion synthesis is an inexpensive technique to obtain high purity, homogeneous nanostructured materials. Today, ferroelectric materials are employed in electronic devices such as ferroelectric random access memories (FeRAM). This paper describes the preparation of strontium bismuth tantalate (SBT) by solution combustion synthesis (SCS), using strontium nitrate, bismuth nitrate pentahydrate, and tantalum pentachloride as oxidation reagents and urea as fuel. The influence of fuel on the electrical properties of the ferroelectric material was investigated by adding different amounts of fuel (stoichiometric (AS), 300% enriched (AS300) and 500% enriched (AS500). The AS500 powder presented a surface area of approximately 16.2 m(2)/g and a crystallite size of about 38 nm and its ferroelectric phase was obtained after calcination at 800 degrees C for 2 h. The electrical resistance increased substantially in response to an increase in the amount of fuel. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.