Contribution of irreversible non-180° domain to performance for multiphase coexisted potassium sodium niobate ceramics

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Despite the dominance of lead-based piezoelectric materials with ultrahigh electric-field-induced strain in actuating applications, seeking eco-friendly substitutes with an equivalent performance remains an urgent demand. Here, a strategy of regulating the irreversible non-180° domain via phase engineering is introduced to optimize the available strain (the difference between the maximum strain and the remnant strain in a unipolar strain curve) in the lead-free potassium–sodium niobate-based piezoelectric ceramics. In situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and Rayleigh analysis reveal the contribution of the non-180° domain to available strain in the tetragonal–orthorhombic–rhombohedral phase boundary. The reducing orthorhombic phase and increasing rhombohedral/tetragonal phase accompanied by the reduced irreversible non-180° domain are obtained with increasing doping of Sb5+, resulting in an enlarged available strain due to the significantly lowered remnant strain. This optimization is mainly attributed to the reduced irreversible non-180° domain wall motion and the increased lattice distortion, which are beneficial to decrease extrinsic contribution and enhance intrinsic contribution. The mesoscopic structure of miniaturized nanosized domain with facilitated domain switching also contributes to the enhancement of available strain due to the improved random field and decreased energy barrier. The study will shed light on the design of lead-free high-performance piezoelectric ceramics for actuator applications.