Electromechanical properties of Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 ceramics prepared by spark plasma sintering

Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 (BZT20) ceramics were prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) and conventional sintering. The dynamic field-induced displacement and small-signal remnant piezoelectric constant measured by a resonant–antiresonant frequency method were evaluated. By normal sintering, the density, grain size, and dielectric constant of the ceramics increased with sintering temperature. The BZT20 ceramics prepared by SPS were characterized by linear field-induced strain. In response to the application of post-annealing at 1300 °C, BZT20 ceramics exhibited linear strain loop and high field-induced strain corresponding to dynamic strain/field d33 at 20 kV/cm of 290 pm/V. The remnant piezoelectric properties of the BZT20 ceramics were found to largely depend on the preparation conditions, including the sintering temperature and annealing temperature. The BZT20 ceramics prepared by SPS and post-annealed at 1300 °C showed Qm and kp values of 325 and 25.1 (%), respectively.