Structure and electrical properties of PZT–PMS–PZN piezoelectric ceramics

The quaternary piezoelectric ceramics of Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3–Pb(Mn1/3Sb2/3)O3–Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PZT–PMS–PZN) with different PZN contents were synthesized by molten salt synthesis (MSS). The influence of PZN content on phase structure, microstructure, dielectric and piezoelectric properties was investigated in detail. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) show that the phase structure of ceramics transforms from rhombohedral phase to tetragonal phase with the increasing of PZN content. The morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) of composition is located in the range of PZN content from 2 to 7 mol%. The grain size of the ceramics gradually decreases with the increasing of PZN content. Dielectric and piezoelectric properties of ceramics are significantly influenced by the PZN content. Ceramics sintered at 1150 °C with 5 mol% PZN achieve excellent properties, which are as follows: Qm = 1381, Kp = 0.64, d33 = 369pC/N, tan δ = 0.0044 and Tc = 275 °C. The PZT–PMS–PZN system is a promising material for high power piezoelectric transformers application.