Preparation and properties of porous PMN-PZT ceramics doped with strontium

The piezoelectric and dielectric properties of lead magnesium niobate-lead zirconate titanate (PMN-PZT) ceramics were investigated as a function of density for transducer applications. A decrease in density increased elastic compliance and improved acoustic impedance matching between PMN-PZT ceramics and ambient media. The reduced dielectric constant (ɛ33) and enhanced hydrostatic figure of merit (dhgh) of PMN-PZT were observed with decreased density. The results showed the dhgh of PMN-PZT ceramic with density of about 5.4 g/cm3 reached 4000 × 10−15 m2/N, and the ɛ33 was very close to 2000, which demonstrates that porous PMN-PZT ceramic is a promising material for transducer applications. Moreover, the low density PMN-PZT ceramics exhibited lower dielectric loss than high density PMN-PZT ceramics during the temperature from 250 °C to 500 °C.