Enhanced piezoelectricity in plastically deformed nearly amorphous Bi12TiO20-BaTiO3 nanocomposites

Abstract

Bulk Bi12TiO20-BaTiO3 (BTO-BT) nanocomposites are fabricated through the high-temperature interfacial reaction between nanometer-sized BaTiO3 particles and melting Bi12TiO20. Although the obtained BTO-BT nanocomposites are nearly amorphous and display very weak ferroelectricity, they exhibit relatively strong piezoelectricity without undergoing the electrical poling process. The volume fraction of crystalline Bi12TiO20 is reduced to less than 10%, and the piezoelectric constant d33 is enhanced to 13 pC/N. Only the presence of the macroscopic polar amorphous phases can explain this unusual thermal stable piezoelectricity. Combining the results from X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and thermal annealing, it can be confirmed that the formation of macroscopic polar amorphous phases is closely related to the inhomogeneous plastic deformation of the amorphous Bi12TiO20 during the sintering process. These results highlight the key role of plastically deformed amorphous Bi12TiO20 in the Bi12TiO20-based polar composites, and the temperature gradient driven coupling between the plastic strain gradient and polarization in amorphous phases is the main poling mechanism for this special type of bulk polar material.