Smart Energy Materials of PZT Ceramics

Abstract

To better understand the material properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics, the domain-switching characteristics and electric power generation characteristics have been investigated during loading and unloading by using various experimental techniques. Furthermore, the influence of oscillation condition on the electrical power generation properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric ceramics has been investigated. It is found that the power generation is directly attributed to the applied load and wave mode. The voltage rises instantly to the maximum level under square-wave mode, although the voltage increases gradually under triangular-wave mode. After this initial increase, there is a rapid fall to zero, followed by generation of increasingly negative voltage as the applied load is removed for all wave modes. Variation of the electric voltage is reflected by the cyclic loading at higher loading frequencies. On the basis of the obtained experimental results for the wave modes, the electrical power generation characteristics of PZT ceramics are proposed, and the voltages generated during loading and unloading are accurately estimated. The electric generation value is decrease with increasing the cyclic number due to the material failure, e.g., domain switching and crack. The influence of domain switching on the mechanical properties PZT piezoelectric ceramics is clarified, and 90 degree domain switching occurs after the load is applied to the PZT ceramic directly. Note that, in this paper, our experimental results obtained in our previous works were introduced [1,2].