High piezoelectric properties and good temperature stabilities of CuO-modified Ba(Ti0.96SnxZr0.04-x)O3 ceramics

Abstract

In order to obtain both high piezoelectric property and good temperature stability in BaTiO 3-based ceramics in the common usage temperature range, Sn 4+ and Zr 4+ are co-doped into BaTiO 3 ceramics according to the formula of Ba ( Ti 0.96 Sn x Zr 0.04-x) O 3 (BTSZ) (x = 0.01–0.4) with 1 mol% CuO being added as sintering-aid in this study. The CuO -modified BTSZ ceramics show both high piezoelectric properties and good temperature stability. Particularly, the CuO -modified Ba ( Ti 0.96 Sn 0.01 Zr 0.03) O 3 ceramic displays the high piezoelectric properties of d33 = 350 pC/N, k p = 49.5% at room-temperature and a weak temperature dependence of kp in the temperature range of -15°C and 60°C. Moreover, the CuO -modified Ba ( Ti 0.96 Sn 0.01 Zr 0.03) O 3 ceramic shows stable thermal aging behavior with the d33 being almost unchanged until the aging temperature of 100°C, which is even higher than its Curie temperature. The high piezoelectric properties of CuO -modified Ba ( Ti 0.96 Sn 0.01 Zr 0.03) O 3 ceramic were ascribed to the dense microstructure with small and uniform grain size distribution. The stable thermal aging behavior can be explained by the aging effect based on the defect dipolar model.