Piezoelectric materials of (1 − x)Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3–xBi(Y0.7Fe0.3)O3 for energy-harvesting devices

• This paper proposes a composition for use in energy harvesting (EH) devices.
• A modified conventional method is used to synthesize the ceramics.
• All the ceramics provided a high Curie temperature.
• A significant enhancement of transduction coefficient (d33 × g33) is observed.
• The high d33 × g33 indicates the possibility of this ceramic for use in EH devices.

The piezoelectric ceramics (1 − x)Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3–xBi(Y0.7Fe0.3)O3 [(1 − x)PZT–xBYF] (where, x = 0.00–0.05) has been synthesized by a modified conventional solid state method. Initially the Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3 [PZT] and Bi(Y0.7Fe0.3)O3 [BYF] was pre-synthesized and mixed to prepare (1 − x)PZT–xBYF ceramic composites. The effects of simultaneous addition of BYF on PZT system were measured as a function of sintering temperature, phase formation, microstructure and piezoelectric/dielectric properties. It was found that between 1150 °C and 1190 °C, these ceramics were well sintered showing a maximum density of approximately ⩾97.8% of the theoretical value. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed some minor second phases of BiYO3 and BiFeO3 at x > 0.01. A uniform, fine grained and relatively pore-free microstructure is obtained at x = 0.01 whereas, the average grain size abruptly decreased on further addition of BYF. All the (1 − x)PZT–xBYF ceramics doped with various BYF content provided a high TC in the range of 382–387 °C. It was found that the piezoelectric and the dielectric properties of (1 − x)PZT–xBYF ceramics vary significantly with increasing BYF content. In addition, the piezoelectric voltage constant (g33), and transduction coefficient (d33 × g33) of (1 − x)PZT–xBYF ceramics have been calculated. For energy-harvesting materials, a high piezoelectric voltage constant expressed by g33 = d33/(ε0 × K33T) (where K33T is the dielectric constant and ε0 is dielectric permittivity of free space) is desirable. At the sintering temperature of 1170 °C, the (1 – x)PZT–xBYF ceramic with 0.01 mol BYF content showed a considerably higher d33 and kp with lower K33T values which results in significantly higher g33 of 53.07 × 10−3 V m/N and (d33 × g33) of 20,167 × 10−15 m2/N. The large (d33 × g33) indicates that the 0.99Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3–0.01Bi(Y0.7Fe0.3)O3 ceramic is a good candidate material for energy harvesting devices. The detail investigations and observations revealed that, the composition with x = 0.01 mol BYF could be the optimum magnitude of doping level in the PZT system.

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